Sung Hyun Park on Sunday erased a two-shot deficit in the last four holes and made a birdie on the first extra hole to defeat Lizette Salas to claim the 2018 LPGA IWIT Championship title. With this win at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Club, the South Korean golfer is predicted to regain her world No.1 ranking.
Park concluded the tournament with a score of 68 (minus-4) to join Salas, after shooting a 3-under 69 for a four-round total of 23-under 265.
After winning co-player of the year and rookie of the year honors in last year, the 25-year-old champion has had a more clamorous 2018 season. She has mixed six cuts, but has won three times.
“I’m very honored to be ranked No.1 and I hope to maintain that ranking for a long time. I will try my best,” Park said.
For Salas, the sting of the loss was there, but after the round she focused on the positives that got her into the playoff.
“My confidence is there. And this might draw me back a little bit, but I’m going to rise to the challenge again, and I will be back, for sure,” Salas said.
Salas seemed to be in control until a bad start gave him a hard time on the last two holes. She made a bogey at the 17th hole and was overtaken by Park, before missing a birdie at the 18th hole. In the playoff round, the American placed a long bird on the edge of the cup.
Lizette Salas fails to win the 2018 LPGA IWIT Championship. (Source:www.al.com)
The 29-year-old American hasn’t won since the 2014 Kingsmill Championship, but Salas has developed a real affinity for the Indy course, where she has had five consecutive sub-par rounds dating to last year’s fifth-place finish.
Salas became University of Southern California’s first four-time All American, playing for an NCAA Championship team in 2018.
When asked about immigration is a national conversation, Salas said she rather stay out of the political thing, but expects to share her story to others,
“I stay out of the political thing. My goal is to share my story, if that inspires others, that’s great. I’m just really proud of where I came from and where my parents came from,” Salas said.
“When you see someone that looks like you is playing the sport, I think it’s very rewarding. My goal when I first turned pro was to change the perspective on who gets to play sport.” Salas added.
