February 06-09
13th Beach GC, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
AU$1,600,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3
For the first time in 6 years, 6 months and 26 days, Hee Young Park is an LPGA Tour champion. The 32-year-old from the Republic of Korea survived a four-hole playoff with countrywomen Hye-Jin Choi and So Yeon Ryu to win the 2020 ISPS Handa Vic Open at -8 overall. It is Park's first victory since the 2013 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic and also comes just months after she nearly quit the game rather than face a trip to LPGA Q Series.
We're headed to a three way playoff 😱@1soyeonryu, @heeyounglpga and Hye-Jin Choi will continue to play the 18th hole in a sudden death playoff.
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 9, 2020
Watch now on @GolfChannel! pic.twitter.com/dR5GEcUrg3
“I wasn't going to Q-School because I thought this is enough. But I tried the Q-School, made the Q-School, finished second,” said Park, who now makes her home in Los Angeles. “That kind of gave some other confidence. And then I just want to (have) the rookie-year feeling, you know? Back to refreshed.”
Park started the day at -9, three strokes off the 54-hold lead held by Ayean Cho. Just as on Saturday, winds increased throughout the day and as the final group of Cho, Madelene Sagstrom and Alena Sharp fell back, Park, Ryu and Choi surged to the top of the leaderboard. Choi's early 3-under 69 gave her the clubhouse lead at –8. Some 30 minutes later, Park and Ryu forced the second three-person playoff of the season. Park birdied the par-5 18th to pull into the playoff, while Ryu got up and down for par after her tee shot went out of bounds.
On the first playoff hole, Park just missed a 6-foot eagle putt that would have captured the win. On the following hole, Ryu missed her birdie putt to drop out of the playoff. After two more birdies, Choi's tee shot went into the trees and her punch-out found the opposite hazard. Park ultimately two-putted for par and a hard-fought victory.
4 playoff holes
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 9, 2020
3 birdies
1 win
Congratulations to @heeyounglpga on winning the 2020 @VicOpenGolf! pic.twitter.com/oBwLNBKof9
“I didn't really watch the leaderboards, so until the 17th I didn't know what my spot was and realized I was really close,” said Park. “So I try my best 18 holes and luckily made a birdie and I got a chance and keep grinding.”
Cho entered the round three strokes ahead of the field but stumbled to a final-round 9-over 81 to finish T16. Sagstrom also shot 81 and finished T20, while Sharp's 5-over 77 was still enough to notch a top-10 finish.
So Yeon Ryu pledges generous brushfire donation
She was obviously disappointed with failing the close out the win, but So Yeon Ryu found many more positives than negatives in her T2 finish. “After I finished my first round, I didn't expect I was going to be in a playoff, or that I was going to be in contention because I was quite far back off from the leader,” said the 29-year-old two-time major champion. “The leader was like 8 under or something and I was only 1 under. Considering that, I finished pretty strong.”
Despite failing to close out the victory, Ryu is a winner in Australia. The South Korean pledged to donate half her winnings from both the ISPS Handa Vic Open and the ISPS Handa Australian Women's Open to brushfire relief efforts in Australia.
“I feel like even though I'm Korean and even though I spent a lot of time in America, I feel like Australia's like my second home,” Ryu said. “I have a lot of Australian staff; my coach is Australian, my physio's Australian and I'm surrounded by a lot of Aussies. I came to Australia quite a lot to do winter training since I was 18. I love Australia, you know, food, wine, coffee, but most importantly people are so nice.
All smiles for @1soyeonryu pic.twitter.com/DBjCmlD1tD
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 9, 2020
“I feel like without having that experience in Australia, I couldn't be who I am these days, so I always really think about what Australia has been giving to me. Then I saw what happened in the bushfire, I was like, I want to do something. I just had to promise myself I'm going to play really well. I already promised myself I was going to donate half of the prize money. So, that was my motivation to play well, to donate more money.
“This is not just about me,” Ryu said. “I hope I can be the inspiration to other people because it already has been almost a month, maybe people might forget about it, so hopefully people keep thinking about this and keep willing to help Australia.”
Pos. |
Player | To Par |
Scores |
Total |
Prize Money |
1 |
Hee Young Park | -8 |
68 - 68 - 72 - 73 |
281 |
$165,000 |
T2 |
Hye-Jin Choi | -8 |
69 - 68 - 75 - 69 |
281 |
$90,049 |
T2 |
So Yeon Ryu | -8 |
71 - 70 - 68 - 72 |
281 |
$90,049 |
T4 |
Leona Maguire | -7 |
69 - 69 - 74 - 70 |
282 |
$52,861 |
T4 |
Linnea Strom | -7 |
66 - 69 - 76 - 71 |
282 |
$52,861 |
T6 |
Su Oh | -6 |
73 - 68 - 74 - 68 |
283 |
$33,050 |
T6 |
Robyn Choi | -6 |
70 - 65 - 77 - 71 |
283 |
$33,050 |
T6 |
Minjee Lee | -6 |
69 - 67 - 74 - 73 |
283 |
$33,050 |
T9 |
Christina Kim | -5 |
67 - 70 - 77 - 70 |
284 |
$24,288 |
T9 |
Alena Sharp | -5 |
68 - 69 - 70 - 77 |
284 |
$24,288 |
T11 |
Wichanee Meechai | -4 |
72 - 69 - 74 - 70 |
285 |
$18,869 |
T11 |
Ally McDonald | -4 |
68 - 65 - 81 - 71 |
285 |
$18,869 |
T11 |
Hannah Green | -4 |
69 - 73 - 71 - 72 |
285 |
$18,869 |
T11 |
Tiffany Joh | -4 |
67 - 73 - 73 - 72 |
285 |
$18,869 |
T11 |
Pei-Ying Tsai | -4 |
68 - 68 - 73 - 76 |
285 |
$18,869 |
T16 |
Ho Yu An (a) | -3 |
70 - 71 - 72 - 73 |
286 |
$0 |
T16 |
Yu Liu | -3 |
70 - 71 - 72 - 73 |
286 |
$14,896 |
T16 |
Perrine Delacour | -3 |
69 - 69 - 75 - 73 |
286 |
$14,896 |
T16 |
Ayean Cho | -3 |
69 - 66 - 70 - 81 |
286 |
$14,896 |
T20 |
Anne van Dam | -2 |
71 - 71 - 73 - 72 |
287 |
$12,458 |
T20 |
Cheyenne Knight | -2 |
67 - 75 - 73 - 72 |
287 |
$12,458 |
T20 |
Dottie Ardina | -2 |
70 - 70 - 75 - 72 |
287 |
$12,458 |
T20 |
Jin Hee Im | -2 |
69 - 70 - 75 - 73 |
287 |
$12,458 |
T20 |
Stephanie Meadow | -2 |
67 - 70 - 74 - 76 |
287 |
$12,458 |
T20 |
Madelene Sagstrom | -2 |
65 - 67 - 74 - 81 |
287 |
$12,458 |
T26 |
Peiyun Chien | -1 |
65 - 74 - 76 - 73 |
288 |
$9,739 |
T26 |
Jenny Coleman | -1 |
72 - 70 - 72 - 74 |
288 |
$9,739 |
T26 |
Yealimi Noh | -1 |
71 - 70 - 73 - 74 |
288 |
$9,739 |
T26 |
Maria Fernanda Torres | -1 |
72 - 67 - 75 - 74 |
288 |
$9,739 |
T26 |
Jeong Eun Lee | -1 |
71 - 70 - 72 - 75 |
288 |
$9,739 |
T26 |
Emma Talley | -1 |
73 - 66 - 73 - 76 |
288 |
$9,739 |
T26 |
Pornanong Phatlum | -1 |
67 - 70 - 74 - 77 |
288 |
$9,739 |
T33 |
Sarah Kemp | E |
71 - 67 - 76 - 75 |
289 |
$8,115 |
T33 |
Min A Yoon | E |
71 - 66 - 77 - 75 |
289 |
$8,115 |
T35 |
Ssu-Chia Cheng | 1 |
71 - 71 - 71 - 77 |
290 |
$7,458 |
T35 |
Dana Finkelstein | 1 |
67 - 73 - 72 - 78 |
290 |
$7,458 |
37 |
Haeji Kang | 2 |
65 - 71 - 77 - 78 |
291 |
$7,029 |
38 |
Stephanie Kyriacou (a) | 4 |
68 - 73 - 73 - 79 |
293 |
$0 |
39 |
Suzuka Yamaguchi | 5 |
70 - 72 - 73 - 79 |
294 |
$6,744 |
40 |
Kelly Tan | 6 |
72 - 70 - 73 - 80 |
295 |
$6,458 |
CUT |
Manon De Roey | -1 |
72 - 70 - 74 |
$5,494 |
|
CUT |
Alana Uriell | -1 |
70 - 72 - 74 |
$5,494 |
|
CUT |
Hee Jeong Lim | -1 |
70 - 71 - 75 |
$5,494 |
|
CUT |
Xiyu Lin | -1 |
67 - 72 - 77 |
$5,494 |
|
CUT |
Klara Spilkova | -1 |
67 - 71 - 78 |
$5,494 |
|
CUT |
Jeongeun Lee6 | -1 |
68 - 69 - 79 |
$5,494 |
|
CUT |
Haley Moore | -1 |
66 - 71 - 79 |
$5,494 |
|
CUT |
Inbee Park | E |
70 - 72 - 75 |
$4,514 |
|
CUT |
Tiffany Chan | E |
70 - 70 - 77 |
$4,514 |
|
CUT |
Cydney Clanton | E |
68 - 69 - 80 |
$4,514 |
|
CUT |
Jennifer Song | 1 |
75 - 67 - 76 |
$3,957 |
|
CUT |
Charlotte Thomas | 1 |
74 - 68 - 76 |
$3,957 |
|
CUT |
Karine Icher | 1 |
70 - 68 - 80 |
$3,957 |
|
CUT |
Jasmine Suwannapura | 1 |
69 - 67 - 82 |
$3,957 |
|
CUT |
Pajaree Anannarukarn | 2 |
74 - 68 - 77 |
$3,486 |
|
CUT |
Mina Harigae | 2 |
69 - 73 - 77 |
$3,486 |
|
CUT |
Lauren Stephenson | 2 |
70 - 70 - 79 |
$3,486 |
|
CUT |
Pavarisa Yoktuan | 2 |
67 - 72 - 80 |
$3,486 |
|
CUT |
Matilda Castren | 3 |
68 - 74 - 78 |
$3,200 |
|
CUT |
Andrea Lee | 4 |
74 - 68 - 79 |
$3,029 |
|
CUT |
Dani Holmqvist | 4 |
69 - 73 - 79 |
$3,029 |
|
CUT |
Linnea Johansson | 5 |
70 - 69 - 83 |
$2,857 |
|
CUT |
Karis Davidson | 6 |
73 - 69 - 81 |
$2,772 |
|
CUT |
Mel Reid | 6 |
72 - 69 - 82 |
$2,772 |
|
CUT |
Jiwon Jeon | 7 |
69 - 69 - 86 |
$2,686 |
|
CUT |
Stacy Lewis | -2 |
74 - 69 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Maia Schechter | -2 |
74 - 69 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Yui Kawamoto | -2 |
73 - 70 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Katherine Kirk | -2 |
72 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Jane Park | -2 |
72 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Jennifer Chang | -2 |
71 - 72 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Wei-Ling Hsu | -2 |
71 - 72 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Julieta Granada | -2 |
70 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Sarah Schmelzel | -2 |
70 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Albane Valenzuela | -2 |
70 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Cristie Kerr | -2 |
69 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Lauren Kim | -1 |
74 - 70 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Kylie Henry | -1 |
73 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Lindsey Weaver | -1 |
73 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Celine Boutier | -1 |
72 - 72 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Esther Henseleit | -1 |
72 - 72 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Robynn Ree | -1 |
72 - 72 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Na Yeon Choi | -1 |
71 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Austin Ernst | -1 |
71 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Caroline Hedwall | -1 |
71 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Laura Davies | -1 |
67 - 77 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Ryann O'Toole | E |
75 - 70 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Karrie Webb | E |
75 - 70 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Katja Pogacar | E |
74 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Esther Lee | E |
72 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Hira Naveed | E |
72 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Elizabeth Szokol | E |
72 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Min Seo Kwak | E |
71 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Amy Olson | E |
71 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Pernilla Lindberg | 1 |
79 - 67 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Brianna Do | 1 |
78 - 68 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Jillian Hollis | 1 |
75 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Hana Lee | 1 |
75 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Giulia Molinaro | 1 |
74 - 72 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Jiyai Shin | 1 |
73 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Maria Fassi | 1 |
72 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Stephanie Na | 1 |
72 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Mariah Stackhouse | 1 |
72 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Diksha Dagar | 1 |
71 - 75 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Kim Kaufman | 1 |
71 - 75 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Ashleigh Buhai | 2 |
76 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Haru Nomura | 2 |
76 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Tonje Daffinrud | 2 |
74 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Beatriz Recari | 2 |
74 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Yuka Saso | 2 |
74 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Lindy Duncan | 2 |
73 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Hanee Song | 2 |
73 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Jing Yan | 2 |
73 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Munchin Keh | 2 |
72 - 75 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Whitney Hillier | 3 |
77 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Grace Kim (a) | 3 |
76 - 72 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Meghan MacLaren | 3 |
75 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Louise Ridderstrom | 3 |
75 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Daniela Darquea | 3 |
74 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Marianne Skarpnord | 3 |
74 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Hee-Won Jung | 3 |
73 - 75 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Paige Stubbs | 3 |
69 - 79 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Mariajo Uribe | 4 |
76 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Gemma Dryburgh | 4 |
72 - 77 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Charlotte Heath (a) | 4 |
71 - 78 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Elizabeth Nagel | 5 |
79 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Sarah Jane Smith | 5 |
77 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Elmay Viking | 5 |
77 - 73 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Sakura Yokomine | 5 |
75 - 75 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Sarah Burnham | 5 |
73 - 77 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Patty Tavatanakit | 6 |
80 - 71 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Marissa Steen | 6 |
76 - 75 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Ayako Uehara | 6 |
76 - 75 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Felicity Johnson | 7 |
78 - 74 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Breanna Gill | 7 |
76 - 76 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Christine Wolf | 8 |
81 - 72 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Soo Jin Lee | 8 |
76 - 77 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Cheyenne Woods | 8 |
73 - 80 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Ayaka Sugihara | 10 |
78 - 77 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Mind Muangkhumsakul | 11 |
79 - 77 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Ling-Jie Chen (a) | 12 |
78 - 79 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Peng-Shan Liu (a) | 13 |
78 - 80 |
$0 |
|
CUT |
Tahnia Ravnjak | 17 |
78 - 84 |
$0 |
|
WD |
Katherine Perry | 81 |
$0 |