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Park wins first women's golf gold in 116 years

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Dan Martin, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/sports/8/21/082116_golf.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">From left, Lydia Ko (NZL) of New Zealand holds her silver medal, Inbee Park (KOR) of Korea holds her gold medal and Shanshan Feng (CHN) of China holds her bronze medal following women&#x27;s Olympic golf competition. Photo by Andrew Boyers, Reuters</div></figcaption></figure></div>RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- South Korea&#x27;s Park In-Bee won the first women&#x27;s Olympic golf title in 116 years on Saturday, using her effortless swing and unflappable demeanor to take a five-stroke victory over New Zealand&#x27;s Lydia Ko.Park shot a five-under-par 66 to finish the tournament at 16-under. Ko, the 19-year-old world number one, ended at 11-under to take silver while China&#x27;s Feng Shanshan finished a stroke further back for bronze.The normally impassive Park, a former world number one, rolled in a final par putt on the 18th hole at the Rio Games Olympic course and appeared to choke up for a moment as she raised her arms in victory.The win adds to an impressive collection of achievements for Park including seven major championships, and served to punctuate the dominance of South Korean women golfers.READ: <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/generalsports/news/2016/08/20/pinay-jin-alora-loses-top-seed-mexican-14669">Pinay jin Alora loses to top seed Mexican</a>&quot;This definitely ranks at the top,&quot; Park, now ranked number five, said of the gold medal&#x27;s place in her career.&quot;I have won majors but I haven&#x27;t won a gold medal so this feels very, very special.&quot;South Korea had more Olympic qualifiers than any other country, with four, and Park had said earlier that they faced high expectations back home.&quot;To hear our national anthem being played over the golf course was just amazing,&quot; said Park, relieved.Golf returned to the Games last week with a men&#x27;s event that concluded Sunday with Britain&#x27;s Justin Rose winning the first Olympic gold medal since 1904.That tournament was dimmed somewhat after more than 20 top men&#x27;s stars skipped it, including the four highest-ranked players, raising doubts about golf&#x27;s long-term staying power in the Games.The no-shows were widely criticised.USA women&#x27;s team member Stacy Lewis suggested that men make too much money compared to women golfers to bother representing their countries.By contrast, this week&#x27;s tournament drew all the top female players.<div>- &#x27;Dramatic finish&#x27; -</div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/sports/8/21/082116_park.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Inbee Park (KOR) of Korea reacts on the 18th green as she wins the gold medal in final round women&#x27;s Olympic golf competition. Photo by Andrew Boyers, Reuters</div></figcaption></figure></div>It featured a wealth of high-quality golf and several of the women expressed hope this week that their tournament could help them step out of the men&#x27;s shadow.Park took the tournament lead from the second round and held on despite a charge by Ko, who had a career-first hole-in-one in Friday&#x27;s third round to leap back into contention.Park had started Saturday two strokes ahead of Ko and widened the gap in shooting a near-flawless four-under-par on the front nine including four birdies.She then stumbled on the tenth, hitting her tee shot into the water en route to a bogey.But Park, known for her serene manner and a lazy swing that seems to fall into place with no effort, shrugged that off.She carded three more birdies down the stretch, effectively sealing gold with her last one on the par-3 17th.But the fight for silver went down to Ko&#x27;s last putt, a clutch roll from eight feet for birdie on the 18th hole that snatched silver from Feng, who was already in the clubhouse.&quot;Either way, it was a dramatic finish and I think we made it very exciting for the media and the fans and everybody who was watching worldwide,&quot; said Ko, who shot a two-under 69 for the final round.The last time a women&#x27;s event was staged was 1900, when the USA&#x27;s Margaret Abbott won a nine-hole tournament at the Paris Games.It was a sweet comeback for Park, who has missed tournaments in recent months due to a nagging thumb injury.That has added to questions raised about the direction her career was heading, especially after the young phenom Ko supplanted her as world number last year.Just 17 at the time, Ko became the youngest golfer, male or female, to reach the top rank.&quot;I had to overcome a lof of obstacles (to reach Rio),&quot; Park said.&quot;I was able to get mentally and physically strong enough this week but I really didn&#x27;t expect this sort of result.&quot;The United States had the second-most golfers in the field with three, including two-time major winner Stacy Lewis.Lewis just missed out on bronze, finishing at nine-under for the tournament, tied for fourth with Japan&#x27;s Harukyo Nomura and Amy Yang of South Korea.<div>© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse</div>(For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/"> ABS-CBN Sports website.</a>)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- South Korea's Park In-Bee won the first women's Olympic golf title in 116 years on Saturday, using her effortless swing and unflappable demeanor to take a five-stroke victory over New Zealand's Lydia Ko.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- South Korea's Park In-Bee won the first women's Olympic golf title in 116 years on Saturday, using her effortless swing and unflappable demeanor to take a five-stroke victory over New Zealand's Lydia Ko.

Park wins first women's golf gold in 116 years

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Park wins first women's golf gold in 116 years

Dan Martin,

Agence France-Presse

Published Aug 21, 2016 09:03 AM PHT

Read More:

Rio Olympics

2016 Olympics

golf

Park In-Bee

Lydia Ko

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