Park shoots 61 to win Manulife event
WATERLOO, ONT. — Despite periods of steady rain, Inbee Park was on fire.
The South Korean burned up Grey Silo Golf Course on Sunday, tying a course record of 10-under 61 to win the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic by three strokes at 23-under par.
Five birdies on the front nine and five on the back sealed the 10th career win and first this season for Park, who was two strokes off leader Shanshan Feng of China heading into the final round. Feng faltered on the day and was only able to shoot 3 under par 68 to finish at 18 under, slipping into third place.
Miami’s Cristie Kerr blew by Feng with a bogey-free round of 8 under 63 to finish at 20-under par.
Park will take home $225,000 of the $1.5-million purse, moving her up to fourth on the money list this season at $744,510. Kerr earned $136,903 and Feng $99,314.
Had it not been for Park’s scorching putter, Kerr might have caught her.
“It seems like today I just put the putter head on my ball and it just wants to go in the hole. It was just one of those days where I really didn’t need to try hard to make it go in. I just needed to really trust my break and just play my own golf,” Park said, explaining her barrage of birdies.
Park admitted she peeked at the leaderboard from time to time, as she didn’t really pull away from the pack until she birdied the 14th hole to go to 22-under par and stretch her lead to four strokes.
“I didn’t really watch the board all the time. I watched a couple times and I knew everybody was having a good score. I didn’t know where Christie was because she wasn’t playing with me, but I always knew where Shanshan was.”
Feng said she was in awe of Park’s putting, not believing that she could sink so many birdies. At one point, Park was in position for a coveted and extremely rare 59.
“I was joking with her, because she made all the putts almost so I said, ‘Do you have GPS in your ball’,” Feng said with a laugh.
Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., who was the top Canadian at the tournament, finished in a tie for 35th at 8 under par after shooting 3 under on the day. Kim said she almost skipped the tournament to have a week of rest after missing the cut the last two weeks in New Jersey and Alabama.
“I hit it great out there,” Kim said.
“I hit the greens in regulation, every day, was improving. I hit 17 greens today and just gave myself a lot of birdie chances.”
Being the low Canadian on the weekend was special to her. “In Canada, as a Canadian, I always want to represent as well as I can,” she said.
Behind Kim was Brooke Henderson (68) of Smith Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (71) at 6 under, Jennifer Kirby (70) of Paris, Ont., at 4 under, and Brantford’s Nicole Vandermade (72) at 2.
Meantime in Memphis, Tennessee, Ben Crane estimates he slept less than three hours in a night spent praying and thanking God that his game finally has come back around.
Then he played 30 holes Sunday in winning the St. Jude Classic for his first PGA Tour title since 2011, setting off a celebration that included hugging his caddy and high-fiving a reporter. Crane also choked back some tears as he looked at text messages filling his phone.
“Oh my gosh, it just keeps going,” Crane said, looking at his phone. “How many can a phone hold? This is so much fun”
Crane closed with a 3-over 73 for a one-stroke victory, going wire to wire for his fifth career victory. Rain delays forced him into the marathon session Sunday at TPC Southwind, finishing 12 holes in the morning in a third-round 69 to take a three-shot lead into the final round.
He two-putted for bogey on the final hole to finish at 10-under 270, days after failing to qualify for the U.S. Open. That marked a low point for the 38-year-old player who spent the past six months reworking his swing to protect his back wondering if his career was over. He spent time with a coach picturing the right way to hit shots.
Everything clicked Thursday with an opening 63.
“I did not expect the hole to open up like that and just start making putts from everywhere,” Crane said. “Just hit a lot of quality shots and obviously built a nice lead to start out with.”
Troy Merritt was second after a 71. Webb Simpson (65), Matt Every (70) and Carl Pettersson (69) were 8 under, and Ian Poulter had a 64 to tie for sixth at 7 under.