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Shut up and attack! Park credits Tiger for stunning Singapore win

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SINGAPORE: Enigmatic Korean Park Sung-hyun revealed she drew inspiration and “energy” from Tiger Woods as she pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.


“If Tiger is watching this interview, then I would want to say that because we met, you gave me such a good energy, that made me win this tournament,” said the world number two Park.


The South Korean shot the lowest round of the week, an eight-under par final-round 64 on Sunday, to win by two strokes from Australia’s world number three Minjee Lee in the $1.5 million US LPGA showpiece event.


Park is so popular in her native South Korea that she has an army of fans following her every move in shirts emblazoned with the two-time major winner’s nicknames.


They include “Namdalla” which means “I’m different”, “Dak Gong” which translates as “shut up and attack”, but the one Park is fondest of is “Tiger”, a tribute to her golfing hero Woods.


The 25-year-old South Korean golf sensation — who spent periods at world number one in both 2017 and 2018 — finally got to meet 14-time major winner Woods in early February during a commercial shoot in the US and hopes she can keep in touch.


Park first burst onto the scene by breaking into the world’s top 10 while still playing on the Korean LPGA Tour, where she won six times in 2016.


Park joined the US LPGA Tour in 2017 and had immediate success when she won that year’s Women’s US Open. A second major followed at the 2018 US PGA Championship.


Sunday’s victory — Park’s sixth on the LPGA Tour — came via her finest final round as she came from four strokes off the pace relegate Australia’s world number three Minjee Lee to second place.


“I think today is one of the best days that I am playing so far on the LPGA Tour,” Park said. Park was languishing 39th in the 62-player field after Thursday’s first round 69 but she remained typically unflappable to work back into contention. — AFP


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