Park Wins U.S. Women's Open

South Korea's Inbee Park became the youngest player ever to win the U.S. Women's Open. The 19-year-old, who's only been playing golf for 10 years, closed with a 2-under 71 Sunday to not only win women golf's third major of 2008 but her first-ever professional title. The 63rd Open was played at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn.

Park finished at 9-under-par 283, four strokes ahead of Sweden's Helen Alfredsson, who closed with a 2-over 75 after a birdie on the par-5 18th hole. Park's 71, her fourth sub-par round in the championship, was the only under-par round shot by the final 18 players on Sunday. Appropriately, she birdied the 18th after chipping from just off the green's edge to under a foot for a tension-free tap-in.

Three players finished tied for third at 4-under 288, including second-round leader Angela Park (73), third-round leader Stacy Lewis (78) and In-Kyung Kim (75).

Paula Creamer, playing in the final twosome with the surprising Lewis, who was playing in her first-ever professional event, carded a disastrous double-bogey on the second hole and never recovered. She also doubled the ninth en route to a 41 on the out side. Creamer settled down on the back nine, but by then Inbee Park's lead was insurmountable. Creamer finished with a 5-over 78 and tied for sixth with three others.

Maria Jose Uribe took low-amateur honors, closing with a 75 to finish at 2-under 290 and tied for 10th with Teresa Lu (74).

Inbee Park's win came 10 years after the previous youngest Open champion, Se Ri Pak, at age 20, took home the hardware at Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin. That victory by her fellow South Korean inspired a young Park to take up the game. "It's really an honor and very special for me that I won the event 10 years after I start playing," Park said. "Everything happened so fast. It's scary. I really tried to stay calm, but it was so exciting . . . this is my day."

Park, who took home a second USGA title after winning the 2002 U.S. Girls' Junior, earned $585,000 from the richest purse in women's golf. Her margin of victory over Alfredsson was the largest in the Women's Open since Karrie Webb won by eight shots at Pine Needles in 2001.

The shot of the day was made by Annika Sorenstam, the great Swedish player whose 2008 will be her last year competitive campaign. She plans to settle down and raise a family at season's end. Sorenstam ended her run in the U.S. Open, which she's won three times, in grand style on the 72nd hole. Though far from the top of the leaderboard, she electrified the crowd by holing out a 6-iron from 199 yards for an unlikely eagle.

"I didn't want to shoot 80 or above," Sorenstam said after a 78 that put her in a tie for 24th a dozen shots behind Inbee Park. "And to hole a shot from 200 yards, that's kind of the last thing you think about. But obviously, I'll take it.

"Leaving with another great memory, that's for sure," she added. "Maybe not the one I had in mind, but I'll take it."

Though disappointed that she came up short of a victory, the highly competitive Lewis, a former NCAA champion at Arkansas, was thrilled with her performance. "I finished third at the U.S. Open, my first pro event," Lewis said. "It's kind of hard to be upset."

Creamer was hoping the 2008 Open would be her breakthrough first victory in one of golf's majors. But once again, she had difficulty negotiating the tense final round of a major championship. Her final round scoring average in the U.S. Women's Open is now 75.2. "It's probably the most disappointed I've been in a very long time," Creamer said.

The ladies' top-ranked player, Lorena Ochoa, had never finished worse than third in the last four majors and won two of them. But the 2008 Open was a different story as the Mexican star closed with a 74 to tie for 31st.

Webb Speaks Out

Webb generated about the only controversy in Edina, complaining after the third round that the Interlachen course was set up too easily for the biggest championship in women's golf while taking a shot at the USGA. Webb's comments came after 19 players posted under-par rounds on Saturday.

The culprit, according to Webb, were Interlachen's soft greens that accepted approach shots more readily than previous Open venues. "It opens it up to people who don't have great distance control and to me that's what the U.S. Open is about, good ball-striking. If you're putting yourself in positions where you should be, you're supposed to be at an advantage, but I don't think it's playing that way right now.

"I really don't understand what the USGA have tried to achieve this week, because they've kept the greens soft all week," said the two-time Open champion, who was 12 strokes from the lead after three rounds and closed with a 76 to finish tied for 38th at 6-over 298.

"I think the course played harder on Monday than it is now. When you've played a lot of U.S. Opens, your mindset is that par's good, but it really isn't (this week)."

The person in charge of Open set-ups for both men and women, Mike Davis, dismissed Webb's comments. "If you're putting yourself in positions where you should be, you're supposed to be at an advantage, but I don't think it's playing that way right now," said Davis, who added that the greens had been the same speed and firmness every day all week, including for practice rounds.

"No disrespect to Karrie, but this is as consistent (a course set-up) as I've ever seen," he said.