Angela Park Ties for Second at U.S. Women’s Open

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C., July 1, 2007 – Recent Duramed FUTURES Tour grad Angela Park was in contention all week at the storm-hampered 62nd U.S. Women’s Open Championship, but by the end of today’s round, she had tied for second in the world’s largest and richest event in women’s golf.

Park fired a final-round score of 70 and tied fellow Duramed FUTURES Tour alum Lorena Ochoa (71) of Mexico at 281 (-3). Both collected runners-up checks for $271,022. Cristie Kerr (70) of Miami, also a Duramed FUTURES Tour alum, won the championship at 279 (-5) at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, collecting the $560,000 winner’s check.

“My coach told me before the tournament started that it’s going to be all about patience and anything can happen in the matter of one hole,” said Park, 18, a native of Brazil who now lives in Torrance, Calif.

Park and the field returned this morning to complete the tournament’s third round, which was delayed after play was suspended during Friday’s second round -- causing a backup in the competition. Park played eight holes this morning to complete her third round, carding a three-over-par score of 74, before starting the final round.

In the final round, the rookie birdied the 15th, but stumbled down the stretch with bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes. Park righted herself with a birdie on the 18th hole, but Kerr’s putter was too strong today, giving the Floridian the victory.

“This is a great experience, especially being able to play this well in the Women’s Open,” said Park. “I’m just going to take whatever I can take from this and hopefully be a better player next year and in the upcoming years.”

Another 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour graduate, In-Bee Park, 18, of Las Vegas, finished tied for fourth. The rookie carded a two-under-par score of 69 in the final round to finish at 282 (-2). Park finished third on the Tour’s 2006 money list to earn her exempt LPGA Tour status this year.

“This is the best finish of my season and I think that this has to be a good start and I’ll play [better] throughout the season,” said In-Bee Park (no relation to Angela Park).

By posting a top-two finish, Angela Park also widened her lead in the LPGA’s rookie race. She is 372 points ahead of rookie In-Kyung Kim of South Korea.

Current Duramed FUTURES Tour players completing 72 holes:

T-35 Kris Tamulis (Naples, Fla.) 72-71-74-76-293 (+9) $17,648
T-50 Ji Min Jeong (Kyungki, Korea) 74-71-77-74-296 (+12) $9,492
T-50 Su A Kim (Seoul, Korea) 73-74-78-71-296 (+12) $9,492
T-58 Jane Park (Rancho Cuchamonga, Calif.) 73-75-76-73-297 (+13) $8,240
T-63 Allison Fouch (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 75-73-79-73-300 (+16) $7,558

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.