No walk in park as Sung-hyun wins LPGA event by one shot

[July 01, 2019]  (Reuters) - Park Sung-hyun made a tap-in birdie at the par-five final hole to win the NW Arkansas Championship on Sunday and stake her claim for the world number one ranking.

Park edged fellow South Koreans Park In-bee and Kim Hyo-joo and American Danielle Kang by one stroke at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

She finished at 18-under-par 195 after a final round of 66.

A week after coming runner-up at the Women's PGA Championship major, Park was consoled with her seventh LPGA Tour victory.

She was not thrilled with her front nine on Sunday -- two birdies and a bogey -- but four birdies on the inward half sealed the deal.

"My round today didn't go as well as I thought it would," she said. "I knew that it was important to make a lot of birdies on the front nine.

"There were a lot of opportunities that I missed but I talked with my caddie, and we both said there's still a lot of hope left, and we waited."

The 25-year-old is the third double LPGA winner this season, joining compatriot Ko Jin-young and Canadian Brooke Henderson.
 

Park is projected to displace Ko atop the world rankings, according to the LPGA.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

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