Inbee Park of South Korea tightened her grip atop the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings with a five-stroke victory over No. 2 Suzann Pettersen of Norway in the World Ladies Championship on the Blackstone Course at Mission Hills Resort in Hainan, China.
No. 1 Park posted a final round of 5-under-par 67 while playing head-to-head with Pettersen, who could manage only a 72 in damp, drizzly weather while trying to defend the Ladies European Tour title she won a year ago.
“Today was obviously the toughest day out there because of the weather,” said Park, who claimed her first victory of the year and 15th of her career. “Everything seems to be working quite well for me, from ball striking to putting. Everything was great today, so I’m just happy to be here and win my first tournament of 2014.
“Last year, I was leading going into the final round and I lost to Suzann. I knew that I left something out there last year, so coming back this year I definitely wanted to win and that’s what I just did.”
So Yeon Ryu closed with a 69 to finish third, eight strokes back, and teamed with Park to give South Korea the team title.
