Former Gorman standout Park in danger of missing out on major accolades

Just more than three months ago, Inbee Park went to St. Andrews with a shot at becoming the first golfer to win four straight majors in one year. She was No. 1 in women’s golf by any measure — world ranking, money list — and it wasn’t even close.

But as the LPGA Tour goes into the final two weeks of its season, there’s a chance the former Bishop Gorman standout won’t win any of the major awards.

And she might even lose her No. 1 ranking.

Suzann Pettersen, who had only one win after the Women’s British Open the first week in August, might have a mathematical chance to overtake Park at No. 1 in the world if she were to win the Lorena Ochoa Invitational this week in Mexico.

Pettersen is only $93,613 behind on the money list with two events left, including the season-ending CME LPGA Titleholders, which pays $500,000 to the winner.

The LPGA player of the year is based on points. Park leads 290-252, but with 30 points awarded for a win, that’s not out of Pettersen’s range.

The other big award is the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. Park has fallen to No. 3 behind Stacy Lewis (69.54) and Pettersen (69.59).

How did it happen?

Pettersen got hot. Park did not.

The 32-year-old from Norway won the Portland Classic and two weeks later captured the Evian Championship, the fifth major of the year. She also won in Taiwan, giving her three wins in her past five tournaments.

Park won for the sixth time this year at the U.S. Women’s Open, her third straight major. She has played eight tournaments since then with only one top-10 finish, third place in China.

Both are playing the final two weeks of the year.