NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Gloria Park knows how to win an
argument.
The 22-year-old earned her second LPGA Tour victory when she
made a 6-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Sunday to beat
Hee-Won Han and win the LPGA Big Apple Classic.
She got a big hug and an apology from her father after
prevailing in her first playoff.
"I had a big fight with my dad last night about my putting
stroke. I cried for two hours and couldn't sleep,'' Park said. But
in addition to the $142,500 first prize, she also got the apology
from Steven Park, who was the one in tears this time.
"He said he was sorry after the last hole,'' she said with a
big smile.
Park and Han, both natives of South Korea, held off Annika
Sorenstam in the final group of the day and finished 72 holes at
14-under 270.
Sorenstam, the leading money-winner on tour who has six
victories this year, shot a 1-under 70 and missed the playoff by
one stroke.
"I was chasing all day and that isn't what I want,'' Sorenstam
said. "That's the way it goes.''
Park, who started the final round tied for the lead with
Sorenstam, shot a 69 Sunday, while Han, the tour's rookie of the
year in 2001, had a 67.
The victory at the 6,161-yard Wykagyl Country Club course was
the second for Park, who is in her third year on tour. The winner
of the Williams Championship last year, she started the week 35th
on the money list with $168,788.
Park matched the tournament record with an 8-under 63 Saturday,
but Sorenstam, who won this event in 1998 and 2000, had a
third-round 64 to stay even.
Park started the final round just as hot, making birdies on Nos.
1 and 3, both par-5s, to go 14 under and take a two-stroke lead.
"Maybe I was concentrating more on my putting and it was good
at the start,'' she said.
She extended the lead to three strokes with a birdie on the
par-4 9th, but saw it drop to one when she bogeyed the par-4 14th
while Han and Sorenstam birdied it to get to 13 and 12 under,
respectively.
Han had a birdie on the par-5 15th and Park parred, and the two
stayed tied until the playoff hole.
Sorenstam, who finished in the top three for the eighth straight
event, got within one shot when she parred the par-3 16th out of a
bunker while the others both three-putted for bogeys.
The three parred Nos. 17 and 18, but Sorenstam nearly joined the
playoff. Her birdie putt from about 15 feet lipped out on the final
hole of regulation.
"I had a good chance and hit a great putt that hit the hole,
but that wasn't the shot that lost it,'' Sorenstam said. "I had
chances all day.''
Han had an 8-footer for birdie and the win, but it just slid by.
"I knew if I made the putt that would win the tournament, so I
hit it to the hole, but it didn't get in,'' said Han, who is still
looking for her first win and was also in her first playoff.
They played No. 18, a 481-yard par-5, as the playoff hole and
Park hit her third shot from about 100 yards within 6 feet and made
the putt. Han's second shot from a downhill lie about 40 yards
closer left her a birdie putt from about 40 feet and she couldn't
make it.
"It was the same thing as the regulation hole, but a little
closer,'' Park said. "I had been hitting really good short irons
all week and I hit that pitching wedge close.''
Karrie Webb finished with a 67 and was at 12-under 272, while
Beth Daniel also closed with a 67 and was at 274.
The tournament was sponsored by Sybase and had a purse of
$950,000.
Divots: The start of the final round was delayed 50 minutes
because of fog. ... The starting times for the final round were
moved up 3 hours Saturday because of a forecast for thunderstorms
for late Sunday. The bad weather never arrived although the
humidity rose dramatically from what it had been the first three
rounds. ... Rosie Jones, the 2001 champion, had a 72 and finished
at 2-under 282, leaving Betsy King, who won this event the first
two years it was played, as the only repeat winner. ... It was the
third time this event ended in a playoff. Daniel beat Laura Davies
in one hole in 1994, and Sherri Steinhauer needed five extra holes
to beat Lori Kane in 1999. ... It was the third time in LPGA Tour
history that Koreans finished 1-2. The most recent was the 2001
British Open when Se Ri Pak beat Mi Hyun Kim by two strokes.