Waterloo, ON – Hee Young Park birdied the third playoff hole on Sunday to top Angela Stanford and win the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.
Park carded a 6-under 65 during her final round at Grey Silo Golf Course to finish the tournament at 26-under-par 258 and capture her second career LPGA title.
Stanford fired a 7-under 64 on Sunday to meet Park at the tournament's record- setting mark.
"This week I made a lot of putts, some putts like lucky, some putts just pretty solid, but I keep trying to same routine all the time and, you know, not think about any score number," Park said about setting the record.
Catriona Matthew (66) sat in third place at 23-under, while Meena Lee occupied fourth at minus-20. Karine Icher owned sole possession of fifth at 19-under.
Haeji Kang and Na Yeon Choi shot matching 9-under 62s to join Stacy Lewis (64), Suzann Pettersen (66), Gerina Piller (67), Amy Yang (67) and Austin Ernst (67) at 18-under 266.
Inbee Park, who had won the last three tournaments entering this week, carded her second straight 68 to finish in a tie with Jessica Korda (65) for 14th place at 14-under.
Hee Young Park and Stanford returned to the 18th hole for the playoff, and after Park pushed her potential winning eagle putt on the first extra hole wide right, each converted their short birdie efforts to force the second extra hole.
They again traded birdies at the second playoff hole before Stanford hit her drive at the third into the rough to the right of the fairway and then hit her next into a bunker.
Park, meanwhile, split the fairway with her drive and rolled her second on the front edge of the green, allowing her to calmly 2-putt for birdie and the win.
"It seems kind of tough to swallow right now, but you know like today, if somebody would have told me you're going to shoot 64 today and not win, I would have thought they were crazy," said Stanford. "So for me to shoot 64-64 on the weekend, you know, it's good for me, but it's not a W, so you play to win."
Park entered the day with a 1-stroke advantage over Stanford, and they both birdied the first hole to maintain that margin.
Matthew then birdied the fifth and sixth to meet Park in first place at 21- under. Stanford also birdied the sixth to make it a three-way tie for the lead.
Matthew made it three straight with a birdie at the seventh to briefly move ahead before Stanford birdied the eighth to join Matthew at minus-22.
Both Matthew and Stanford birdied the 11th and 12th to remain tied, but Stanford was able to pull ahead with her third straight birdie at the 13th to grab the outright lead at 25-under.
Matthew fell off the pace with a bogey at the 15th, while Park, who followed her opening birdie with nine straight pars, raced into contention with gains at Nos. 11, 14 and 15, moving her a shot behind Stanford.
Park pulled into a tie for the lead with a 5-foot birdie putt at the 17th, and then chipped to within five feet at the last before rolling in her birdie effort to finish at 26-under.
Stanford, who was playing alongside Park, had a chance for the outright win with a lengthy eagle attempt at the 18th, but pushed it wide right before converting her birdie effort to force the playoff.
NOTES: The lowest 72-hole score in relation to par in LPGA history was 27- under by Annika Sorenstam in 2001 ... Park will move up 16 places to 21st in the world rankings with the win ... It was Park's first career playoff appearance.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.