President Donald Trump sat in his special viewing box Sunday at the Women’s U.S. Open, the familiar red cap on his head with the words:
Make America Great Again.
Maybe he should alter that somewhat to fit the events that transpired Sunday and all week at the Women’s U.S. Open.
Maybe he should wear a cap that says:
Make American Women’s Golf Great Again.
Once again the gals from the good old USA got their collective behinds handed to them in another show of power by the nation of South Korea.
Sung Hyun Park led the onslaught that saw South Korean women take eight of the top 10 spots when play finished on Sunday at Trump National Bedminster.
Park, who came painfully close to winning last year, found redemption in a big way with a weekend display that left no doubt she was the best player on the property after 72 holes of the USGA championship.
She broke out of a back-nine battle with Shanshan Feng, the Chinese star and the most unlikely of contenders, a fellow South Korean. The catch is that her fellow South Korean wasn’t even a professional.
Hye-Jin Choi, the 17-year-old amateur, nearly turned the championship into the South Korean High School Championship. She was right there in the hunt, tied for the lead at 10-under par when she stood on the 16th hole, a par three playing only 139 yards but with the hole cut dangerously close to the right side, just a few yards from the water. She then made an amateur mistake after hitting it pure all day. “I was hitting the ball perfectly so I went for the pin,” she said afterward through her translator. It was her one imperfect shot. She missed it right and into the water it went. A double there then a birdie a the 18th left her two shy of Park’s winning 11-under total.
Park hit two keys shots to win it. Her second at the difficult 17th stopped just five feet from the hole, giving her the go-ahead birdie.
At the 72nd hole, she launched her third over the green but hit a magnificent chip to a foot to save par. Paul Azinger called the shot “off the charts impressive.” It was impressive, considering that 54-hole leader Shanshan Feng, who led every one of the first three rounds, made triple-bogey from nearly the same spot on 18.
Park, who used her enormous length off the tee to her full advantage, had finesse at the moment she needed it. She shot 67-67 over the weekend, a dominating two days.
“I wanted to believe in myself again,” she said, recalling her disaster on the 72nd hole in 2016 when her second shot found the water. She admitted back then she wasn’t ready to win. That wasn’t the case on Sunday.
“Feels somewhat unreal,” said Park, who got her first win in America, her first on the LPGA. But the 23-year-old is no stranger to winning. She dominated the Korean LPGA with 10 wins. It was just a matter of time over here. “Here I am, I’m excited and happy.”
In the meantime, there wasn’t an American in sight on Sunday.
Marina Alex, hardly an everyday name on the LPGA Tour, finished in a tie for 11th. Lizette Salas nabbed a tie for 15th.
Cristie Kerr, a friend of Trump’s, shot 75 on Sunday and dropped into a tie for 19th.
Imagine, they all got drummed by a 17-year-old.
Doesn’t look good for the future of women’s golf in America.
Does it?
