A Veteran Takes a Bow as a Youngster Takes the Title By LARRY DORMAN Published : June 30 , 2008 EDINA , Minn . — There was a sense of symmetry to the conclusion of the United States Women ’ s Open at Interlachen Country Club on Sunday . on a day when the finest female golfer in modern times played in her last Open — the event she had made her first professional win back in 1995 — a 19 - year - old went ahead and made this Open her first professional victory . Exit Annika Sorenstam , enter Inbee Park , the teenager from South Korea who withstood withering pressure and gusting winds without losing her composure or changing her ｅxpression . While the overnight leader , Stacy Lewis , and her playing partner , Paula Creamer , were shooting themselves in the foot , Park was shooting a final round of two - under - par 71 for a 72 - hole total of nine - under 283 and a four - stroke win over Helen Alfredsson . Ten years after Se Ri Pak became the first Korean woman to win the United States Open , Park became the second , and also the youngest winner , replacing Pak , who was 20 . “ I feel very honored that I win this championship at the Interlachen Country Club , and especially with Annika ’ s last event , I really want to share this win with her , too , ” Park said . “ This is very , very special to me , and I will never forget this moment . ” It was an unforgettable day for many . Sorenstam made one of the great exits in golf , holing a 6 - iron from 199 yards for an eagle at the 18 th hole . Although she shot 78 and finished in a tie for 24 th , she walked through a roaring 200 - yard tunnel of cheers up to the 18 th , picked her ball out of the hole and threw it into the stands to more cheers . She walked off the green , hugged her fiancé , Mike McGee , and said , “ I don ’ t give up . ” Each of the players in the final pairing also shot 78 . Lewis , the 23 - year - old playing in her first event as a professional , was not that bothered by her score . She began the day with a one - stroke lead over Creamer , and though she was unable to win , she chose to look at the bright side . “ It ’ s hard to be upset , ” Lewis said . “ I finished third at the U . S . Open , my first pro event . It ’ s kind of hard to be upset . I just don ’ t really feel like I played that poorly . ” Creamer , a fourth - year professional with six L . P . G . A . Tour wins , viewed it through a different prism . A round that started with her one shot behind but included two double bogeys was not exactly what she had in mind . “ Definitely not , no , ” she said after finishing in a tie for sixth . “ But you learn from these . Just honestly it was not my day . Probably the most disappointed I ’ ve been in a very long time . ” She had reason . She made her first double bogey of the week at the 473 - yard , par - 5 , semi - cupcake of a third hole , which she had birdied the previous three days . It started with a drive into a sketchy lie in the left fairway bunker . It continued with a shot into the right rough , and another over the green . She flubbed a pitch shot , left her 12 - footer for bogey short and set the tone for the day . “ A par - 5 ? ” she said , still incredulous afterward . “ That ’ s horrible , especially on that hole when I ’ d been in front every day . ” Lewis took a different route to the same score , missing the green on her third shot from 70 yards , then watching in disbelief as her little chip shot from 20 feet away slid down the front of the green and trickled off down the hill . Her pitch went beyond the hole , and she missed a 12 - footer for bogey . While all this was going on , the lead fell right into Park ’ s hands . She had birdied the first two holes , chipping in from 60 feet off the green at the first and tapping in for birdie at the second after a chip stopped dead next to the hole . She played the rest of the way in even par , with bogeys at the sixth and eighth holes , birdies at the 11 th and 12 th , and a bogey at No . 17 offset by a birdie at the 18 th . Alfredsson , who last won a tournament in 2003 , kept it together despite missing a 1 ½- footer and bogeying the third hole . She eagled the 13 th , a 525 - yard par - 5 , to pull back into contention at five under , then offset a bogey at No . 16 with a birdie at 18 . Alfredsson had a veteran ’ s appreciation for what she had seen Park do all day . “ I was very impressed with her composure , ” she said . “ She was very calm . Never changed anything . And really that ’ s very impressive for a 19 - year - old , I think . She ’ s going to win a lot more . ” 요