Inbee Park wins Kraft Nabisco in fine style

The 2008 US Women’s Open champion tamed the Mission Hills course with a 67 in her third round to surge to 12 under par, for a three-shot lead, and stretched that to a four-stroke winning margin.

She signed for a closing round of three-under 69 and a 15-under aggregate of 273, with her countrywoman So Yeon Ryu the only player to threaten Park at all, reaching 11 under for the week after a sparkling seven-under 65 which was the lowest score of the day.

Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen were tied for third on nine-under 279 following their respective closing rounds of 68 and 69, while British fortunes improved in the closing round as Scotland’s Catriona Matthew and England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff finished in a share of seventh place on five-under.

Veteran Matthew had her best round of the week, the 43-year-old world No 13 finishing with a 68, while Ewart Shadoff signed off with 69 to end a memorable four days on a high note. The 25-year-old, ranked 110th in the world, was tied for the lead after the first round before sliding out of title contention, but she recovered impressively to claim her best finish in a major.

Champion Park, who won $300,000 (£195,000), said: “It has been a while since I won a major, and this is my second major of my career, and it feels very special.

“This week I played very solid. Today and all week I played very good. I’m just happy that I have another major under my belt.”

She climbs from fourth to second place in the world rankings and said: “It’s taken pressure off me for the rest of the season. I’m just going to go out there and enjoy the season.”