Inbee Park plays her second shot to the par 5 18th hole during the final round of the Women’s PGA Championship in Harrison, N.Y. on June 14.David Cannon/Getty Images
Inbee Park shot a final-round 68 and finished at 19-under par to win the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for the third consecutive year and retake the No. 1 ranking in women's golf.
The 26-year-old from South Korea made five birdies and shot a bogey-free round at the Westchester Country Club, finishing the season's second major five strokes ahead of 22-year-old compatriot Sei Young Kim on Sunday.
Park, who shot a 273 for the tournament, tied the Tour record for the lowest score in a major in relationship to par and finished the four rounds with 22 birdies and just three bogeys.
It was her fifth major championship in the past 12 played on the LPGA Tour since the beginning of 2013.
"I played great the last three days," she said. "I couldn't believe myself. I made no bogeys for three days."
This is Park's sixth major title. She ties Annika Sorenstam (2003-05) as the only golfers who have claimed this championship in three consecutive years.
Park's last birdie came on the final hole. She chipped her second shot to within five feet of the pin, then sank the ensuing putt and threw her arms in the air as a fan yelled "three-peat."
It was her 56th consecutive hole without a bogey.
American Lexi Thompson ended up in third place. She had eight birdies on her first 13 holes Sunday and shot a 66 to finish at 12-under par.
Brittany Lincicome, who won the first LPGA major of the year at the ANA Inspiration, finished in fourth place at 11-under par. She shot a final-round 68 that included a birdie on the final hole.
Seventeen-year-old Canadian Brooke Henderson finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with Suzann Pettersen and Morgan Pressel at 10-under par. The prize money will help in Henderson's quest to earn a Tour card for next year. The Smiths Falls, Ont., native needs to either win a tournament or finish with an equivalent of a top-40 on the money list to avoid qualifying school after being denied an age exemption.
"Today I was hoping to climb up that leaderboard a little bit more than I did, but two-under on Sunday at a major championship, I can't complain too much," Henderson said. "And tied fifth, that's pretty cool.
"Definitely moving forward, I have a lot that I can take away and I'm hoping to do that."