Sung Hyun Park wins U.S. Women’s Open under watchful eye of Donald Trump

Park overtakes 54-hole leader Shanshan Feng and young amateur H.J. Choi to earn her first major title in just her second U.S. Women’s Open start.

Sung Hyun Park overcame a three-shot deficit and the heartbreak of a near-win in last year’s event to capture the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open.

Park, whose water ball with her second shot on the 72nd hole in the 2016 tournament led to a bogey and third-place finish, put that nightmare behind her when she took a two-shot lead into the final hole on Sunday and made a clutch par to win her first major championship.

Adrenaline pumping, the 23-year-old Park blew the green with her third shot but chipped up a slope to tap-in distance for a par and a final-round 5-under 67. Playing in just her second Women’s Open, the world’s No. 11 golfer finished at 11-under for the week — two shots better than 17-year-old amateur H.J. Choi.

Park accomplished her feat at the tournament in which the golf was overshadowed all week by the owner of the Trump National course in Bedminster, N.J. President Donald Trump, clapping for the winner from his glass-enclosed box above No. 18, was the most notorious witness to the final-round theatrics and garnered most of the attention even before arriving at his summer White House during Friday’s second round.

Trump may have sucked the air out of the festivities, but Park did not let the histrionics surrounding POTUS derail her from her quest. Indeed, though 54-hole leader Feng and Choi challenged for the lead much of the day, a water ball on the par-3 16th knocked the latter out of the contest, and a triple-bogey on No. 18 knocked Feng into a tie for fifth place.