In Gee Chun posts new major record of 21 under at Evian Championship
Sunday 18 September 2016 19:56, UK
In Gee Chun recorded the lowest winning score in major history as she cruised to a four-shot victory at the Evian Championship.
Chun defied torrential rain over the early stages of the final day in France to close with a solid two-under par 69 which lifted her to 21 under for the tournament, eclipsing the previous women's record by two shots.
The 22-year-old, who made her major breakthrough at last year's US Women's Open, also surpassed the overall record shared by Jason Day and Henrik Stenson on 20 under, while Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu made it a clean sweep for South Korea on the podium.
Chun began the final round four clear and, after opening with a pair of pars, she consolidated her lead with a nerve-settling birdie at the third before adding another at the eighth, although she failed to take advantage of the par-fives and seven and nine.
She parred the first four holes of the back nine before giving the chasing pack a glimmer of hope with a bogey at the short 14th, but her response was immediate as Chun birdied the next to restore her four-stroke lead.
And with major history on the line, Chun retained her composure down the stretch to par the last three holes and close out her first victory of the season.
Park's hopes of applying early pressure faltered when she bogeyed the opening hole, although she birdied two of the next three before another blemish at the eighth left her with a mountain to climb after the turn.
Her challenge effectively ended with another dropped shot at the 12th, but she did manage to eagle the 15th to salvage a 69 which earned her a share of second with Ryu, who birdied three of the first five holes and picked up two more on the inward half to card a flawless 66.
Shanshan Feng hinted a mounting a late charge when she reeled off three consecutive birdies to cap an outward 32, but the Chinese powerhouse then double-bogeyed the 10th to take her out of contention.
Feng clawed one stroke back at the 15th and closed with 69 which left her in outright fourth on 15 under, with Sei Young Kim adding to the huge South Korean presence at the top of the leaderboard as a superb 66 lifted her to 14 under.
Jodi Ewart Shadoff returned an erratic 71 to close on five under, while Emily Christine Pedersen (four under) Carlota Ciganda (three under) were the only other Europeans in the top 20.
Defending champion and world No 1 Lydia Ko rounded off a disappointing week when she bogeyed the final two holes in a 73 which left her outside the top 40 on two over par.
But the teenager retained top spot in the LPGA Tour's Race to CME Globe standings, while Women's British Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn stays second after she closed with a 67 to finish tied for ninth - her fourth top-10 in the majors this year.
