Inbee Park Rewrites LPGA History – A New Legend is Born

Inbee Park of South Korea became the youngest winner in the history of the U.S. Women’s Open and I was lucky enough to be there to see it all. The soon-to-be twenty year-old, 2nd year professional carded a final-round 71 (-1) for a four day total of 283 (-9) at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota. Edina is a southwest suburb of Minneapolis. Inbee finished four strokes ahead of Sweden’s Helen Alfredsson.

On our way to the golf course Saturday morning, we saw Michelle Wie taking a jog around the housing development by Interlachen. She had one hole to finish from Friday’s round, and after missing the cut I’m sure she had some built up frustration to burn!! My husband and I ate at Chili’s Saturday night. We were in for a shock when we sat down, and looked over to the corner table. Inbee Park, her caddie, and a friend were eating right across from us. There is obviously something to be said about eating Chili’s fajitas the night before the final day of a major championship!

We spent most of the weekend following Suzann Pettersen of Norway. Through thirteen holes on Sunday, she was -5 on the day and -3 for the tournament. She began making her way onto and up the leaderboard when she made 3 consecutive bogeys and finished -2 for the day and EVEN for the tournament (Tie for 13th). We got the opportunity to talk with Suzann’s mom and uncle for a while on Sunday. I felt sick for Suzann after the three bogeys, but I can only imagine how they were feeling!

This year’s U.S. Open marked the beginning of another era…Women’s golf without Annika Sorenstam, the former #1 player in the world. She is retiring after this season to attack other life dreams: marriage, family, and the Annika Academy (a golf school in Florida). Lorena Ochoa has taken over the world #1 with Suzann Pettersen and Annika coming in at a close second and third. Annika did not play the greatest Open of her career, but she was determined to go out in style! On the 18th hole on Sunday, she had to lay up in front of the water on her second shot. It looked as though it was going to be a routine up-and-down birdie, but Annika had other ideas. She pulled her 6-iron out of the bag, and prepared for another normal approach shot. The ball hit short of the green, took 2 hops and went in the hole. She took a couple jumps, hugged her caddie, and made her final walk up the 18th fairway. The noise was unlike anything else she had ever heard. The fans kept saying ‘thank you Annika’ all day for the contributions she has made to the game, and that finish was the perfect way for her to show her gratitude to golf, the fans, and all of the supporters she has had in her amazing career.

All in all, it was a great weekend in Minneapolis, even though my favorite players and idols did not win the tournament. History was made and great golf was played.

And 1 last thing…the Best Dressed award goes to……PAULA CREAMER, a.k.a. ‘The Pink Panther’ (for obvious reasons)!