Chun glad she 'stuck with it' during long slump

BETHESDA (Maryland) • Chun In-gee admitted she was urged to retire from golf during her 31/2-year title drought, which the South Korean snapped with her third Major at the Women's PGA Championship in Bethesda on Sunday.

Her wire-to-wire victory after a three-over 75 at the Congressional Country Club was her first title since she won on home soil at the Hana Bank Championship in October 2018, her only LPGA win outside the Majors.

"When I got in a slump, some people said, 'In-gee, you should retire because your game is not good right now'," she recalled.

"But no matter what they said, I believed that I could win again. I'm so proud now... I stuck with it. I kept playing. That's how I won this week. That's why I'm so thankful.

"It just means a lot because I didn't have any wins for almost 31/2 years. My loyal fans in Korea, they never gave up on me no matter how I did."

A sizzling course-record eight-under 64 got Chun off to a flyer in the opening round, but a 75 in the third allowed the chasing pack to close to within three shots.

Four bogeys on the front nine of Sunday's final round erased her advantage and the 27-year-old turned around trailing American Lexi Thompson by two shots at the top of the leaderboard.

"I want to tell (the) truth," she said. "I couldn't control all the pressure. This is why I had four bogeys.

"At the same time, you know, this course is never easy.

"Congressional Country Club is a hard golf course, and we had tough pin positions. Sometimes my golf is not perfect."

Two birdies with a single bogey as Thompson faltered on the back nine, however, proved enough for the 33rd-ranked Chun to take the title with a par-par finish.

"I believed that if I stuck to my game plan then I had a chance on the back nine," she added.

"So, I tried to hang in there. I'm so happy I made it. My body is still shaking, though."

The win earned her US$1.35 million (S$1.87 million), a big jump from the US$487,500 she took home from her last Major triumph at the 2016 Evian Championship.

Her first Major win was the year before at the US Women's Open.

The South Korean ended the Women's PGA Championship on five-under 283. It was good enough for a one-stroke win over Thompson (73) and reigning US Open champion Minjee Lee (70) of Australia to take the top prize from a record US$9 million purse.

Thompson could not end an eight-year Major drought since her 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship win at age 19 or a three-year overall victory drought.

Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul (72) was fourth on 285, while a fifth-place pack on 287 consisted of Japan's Nasa Hataoka (69), Australian Hannah Green (75) and South Koreans Kim Hyo-joo (71), Kim Sei-young (76) and Choi Hye-jin (76).

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE