Youngest Victor wins Longest Women’s Open

After their 18-hole playoff Monday failed to produce a champion for the 53rd U.S. Women’s Open, the two 20-year-old golfers persevered, still tied at two-over-par 73.

Then the five-hour odyssey that took South Korea’s Se Ri Pak shin-deep in water and forced Duke University amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn waist-high in weeds ended on the second hole of the first sudden-death playoff in tournament history.

Pak finally concluded the drama by sinking an 18-foot birdie putt on the tournament’s 92nd hole--played at the par-four, 374-yard No. 11 at Blackwolf Run Golf Course.

The putt made Pak, 20, the youngest Open champion in history and gave her the second major title of her career, only two months after she claimed the LPGA Championship.

And for a moment, Pak’s stoic, professional demeanor dissolved. She broke down in tears, and her father ran from the gallery onto the green, wrapped his arms around her and lifted her.

“First time I cry in my life,” Pak said in the halting English she has worked hard to acquire this year. “This week is really best week for me. That is why . . . I’m really happy.”

Chuasiriporn, looking on as Pak wept, Chuasiriporn broke into a broad grin and waited for the right moment to offer congratulations and a pat on the back.

An amateur from Timonium, Md., Chuasiriporn had gotten further in the tournament than any amateur since Catherine LaCoste won in 1967. That alone, she said, was reason enough to treasure this day. “This is just another thing to build my confidence and my mental game,” said Chuasiriporn, who had a four-stroke lead early in Monday’s playoff. “Everything is just a big plus coming out of this tournament.”

Pak, a former track star who started playing golf only six years ago, is the fourth straight foreign player to win the Open and eighth overall. She is the first LPGA rookie to win two majors in the same year since Juli Inkster in 1984.

At first blush, she and Chuasiriporn have much in common. The same age, each inherited her father’s love for the game and learned its basic principles at his knee. But Pak, who collected $267,500 for the victory, no doubt will see Monday’s winnings enriched by the endorsement deals in South Korea, where she is her country’s most famous athlete.

Chuasiriporn is scheduled to return to Duke for her senior year, with thoughts of turning pro after getting her diploma and, with luck, earning a coveted NCAA title.

But Monday it was hard to distinguish amateur from pro, their play was so even.

Pak finished with three birdies and five bogeys over the 18-hole playoff. Chuasiriporn had three birdies, two bogeys and a triple bogey on No. 6 that cut her biggest lead of the day--a four-shot advantage--to one.

It also was easy to forget both players were teenagers a year ago, they were so poised through the day’s ups and downs. A quick glance at their equipment gave them away: Pak favored Looney Tunes characters for her head covers (specifically Tweetie Bird, Bugs Bunny and Sylvester the Cat); Chuasiriporn’s were horned Blue Devils.

There was no whimsy, however, in the game they played.

Chuasiriporn, who sank a 40-foot putt on the 18th hole Sunday to force the playoff, opened Monday’s play with similar magic, chipping in for birdie on No. 1. She built a four-stroke lead by adding a pair of birdies over the next three holes.

Pak was strong off the tee and had no trouble finding the fairways. But her putts were tentative, falling short or veering off course. Through the first 10 holes, she had three bogeys and no birdies.

Though Pak is by far the bigger celebrity, with icon status in South Korea, which sent dozens of journalists to chronicle her play, the Baltimore-born Chuasiriporn was the favorite among the roughly 10,000 fans who returned for the playoff. There were teen-age boys with binoculars, mothers pushing baby strollers, retirees toting folding chairs and a striking number of adults who apparently had the day off work.

Pak’s rooting section waved Korean flags and carried a sign that read, “We Love You, Se Ri,” in English and Korean. Korean journalists openly cheered her good shots, as did Pak’s parents.

In Chuasiriporn’s corner were Dan Brooks, her Duke coach; her U.S. Curtis Cup teammates, who tucked American flags in their caps; her parents and brother Jimmy, 10, who alternately clasped his hands in prayer and sprawled exasperated on the grass with his sister’s every shot.

With Chuasiriporn in the lead, shouts of “Go, Jenny!” and “Keep it up, Jenny!” came from the gallery. But that lead withered fast on No. 6, where Chuasiriporn’s shot off the tee was short, and the ball dropped into a ravine dense with weeds and bushes. She took a one-stroke penalty and finished with a triple bogey, which trimmed Pak’s deficit to one shot.

Pak fell two shots back after a two-foot putt lipped out on No. 8. She eventually found her putting form and made three birdies over a four-hole stretch, starting on No. 11.

The players were tied at one-over-par heading to the 18th hole, among the course’s toughest. At 421 yards, its left hazard was flooded with water to make it even trickier. And Pak’s first shot nearly plopped in it, dropping left of the fairway and dribbling down the grassy bank.

After studying the grim situation with caddie Jeff Cable, Pak slipped off her shoes and socks. She waded into the water and assumed her stance, taking several practice strokes with her arms. He handed her an ‘A’ wedge, slightly bigger than a pitching wedge, and Pak pitched the ball into the rough on the other side of the fairway. From there, she was grateful to bogey the hole, which proved good enough after Chuasiriporn’s 15-foot putt for par, smacked a tad too firmly, drifted within a half-inch of the cup and sailed past.

“It was lucky hole for me,” Pak said. “That is why I win.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.