By Laura Fellwock (@AJGAFellwock ), AJGA Communications
Just two months after becoming the youngest woman to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame at the age of 27, Inbee Park added another first to her collection. Park won gold Saturday at the Olympics to become the first woman in 116 years to win gold in Olympic golf. The 2002 Rolex Junior Player of Year and four-time AJGA champion earned a five-stroke victory over Lydia Ko. Park has won seven major championships on the LPGA Tour, including three in 2013, and she has a career Grand Slam to her name.
Shanshan Feng finished with the bronze, just one stroke back of Ko in second place. Feng earned the medal just one day before the start of her AJGA Shanshan Feng Junior Championship in Chico, California.
AJGA alum and tournament host Stacy Lewis surged into the lead during Thursday’s second round with an 8-under-par 63 that included 11 birdies, but she came up one stroke shy of the medal stand after leaving a birdie putt on No. 18 inches short. Lewis tied Hee Young Yang and Harukyo Nomura for fourth at 9-under-par. The two-time Rolex Player of the Year on the LPGA Tour hosts the KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational at her home course, Blessings Golf Club, in Johnson, Arkansas.
Two-time AJGA champion Brooke Henderson finished T7 at 8-under-par 276, along with AJGA alum Minjee Lee and Charley Hull. Three-time Rolex Junior All-American, Lexi Thompson, finished T19 at 3-under-par 281.