Inbee Park of South Korea shot 6-under-par 65 and captured the Volunteers of American North Texas Shootout for the second time in three years, winning by three strokes over Cristie Kerr and Hee Young Park of South Korea at TPC Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.
The 26-year-old Park, who is No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, collected her 14th LPGA Tour victory and second this year, giving her multiple victories in each of the last four seasons.
“I really love this golf course,” said Park, who captured three straight LPGA Tour majors in 2013. “Some players talk about how tough it is, but it just fits my eye and I play it really well. I love coming to Texas. The atmosphere is great and the crowds here are great.
“The main key this week was my putting, which I struggled with the last couple weeks. I hit the ball great in Hawaii and San Francisco, but I just couldn’t putt. I made a little change this week and even though I missed a couple of short ones, I made some long-range putts. I’m really happy with the way I was rolling the ball.”
Kerr birdied her last three holes to finish at 66 and claim her share of second, while H.Y. Park eagled the third hole en route to her own 66.
Lexi Thompson closed with a 69 and wound up four shots back in a tie for fourth with Maria McBride of Sweden, who eagled the third and 10th holes before adding three birdies down the stretch on her way to a 65.
Angela Stanford birdied the last two holes to shoot 69 and finished solo sixth, five strokes behind, while defending champion Stacy Lewis shot 67 and was another shot back in a tie for seventh with 54-year-old Juli Inkster, who also had a 67, and Karrie Webb of Australia, who came in at 70.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko closed with a 71 and tied for 41st.
Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old Canadian who finished third last week in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Tour Classic in San Francisco before flying to Texas and getting into this tournament through Monday qualifying, shot 73 and tied for 13th.
