The great Seve Ballesteros was once dubbed golf’s ‘car park champion’ after his swashbuckling heroics at the Lytham Open of 1979. Yesterday at Turnberry, we thought we might get golf’s first ‘fluffy Parka champion’ as jolly Jin-Young Ko took refuge from Scotland’s lamentable summer climate by donning a thick, hooded jaicket after each shot while she set a sprightly pace at the head of affairs during the final round of the Ricoh Women’s British Open. In the end, though, it was Inbee Park who underlined her stature as a truly great champion.

Jin-Young, smiling and cheery to the end, performed superbly in her first major championship but it was her Korean compatriot and mentor Park who took the honours with a superbly assembled seven-under 65 for a 12-under tally of 276 and a three stroke victory. The world No 1 timed her late thrust perfectly and surged to the front as Jin-Young suffered a late wobble. Park now has a magnificent seven majors on her cv, she’s won six of the last 14 up for grabs in the women’s game and has become the seventh player to win four different major titles. With five majors now on the women’s calendar – Park won the Evian Masters in 2012 before it gained that lofty status – Park has not, technically, completed the career Grand Slam. But what are a few technicalities when you’re talking about monumental achievements? “I’ve put my name on every single major championship,” she said. “I feel like I’ve won all the majors in women’s golf.”

The British Open is the one she always wanted and this triumph provided a sense of redemption. A year ago, Park led coming onto the back-nine of the championship at Birkdale but had to settle for second. “Last year was the most disappointing tournament I’ve had,” she added. “This makes it all so special. There’s so much to overcome – the wind, the rain – but I’ve finally done it.”

The overnight lead was held by Jin-Young and Teresa Lu but Lu swiftly slithered out of the picture with a crippling double-bogey, bogey start to her final round. Park served notice of her intentions with an early salvo as she birdied both the second and third but a brace of bogeys at the next two holes had her back to square one. Jin-Young, meanwhile, was serenely waltzing along with a cheery, carefree demeanour that made a mockery of her lack of experience in both the major and links arenas. Aided by Girvan caddie, Jeff Brighton, the 20-year-old simply plonked the ball where he told her to hit it before burying herself in the warm embrace of that aforementioned item of clothing and bouncing off down the fairways and to the greens. As a changeable, dour day went on, you half expected her to appear from one of the humps and hollows with a scarf, some gloves, a ski-mask and a couple of hot water bottles tied round her waist.

She was certainly looking dressed for success, though, and when she trundled in an eagle putt of some 25-feet on the seventh, holed a raking birdie putt on the eighth and made another lengthy birdie putt on the 10th, Jin-Young had established a strong foothold at the top of the standings.

There were some big names jockeying and elbowing for position behind her, mind you. Suzann Pettersen had numerous chances to reduce the leeway on the front nine while Lydia Ko, the world No 2, was hovering menacingly until a damaging excursion into the bunker on the 12th led to a momentum-stopping double-bogey.

Park, meanwhile, was on the prowl and four birdies in a row from the seventh had her lurking ominously. When Jin-Young leaked a shot on the 13th – her first mishap of the day – and Park rifled in an eagle putt of 30-feet on the 14th, the duo were tied at the top. The destination of the title would then take a significant turn in Park’s favour on the 16th. Her 6-iron approach was superb and spawned a birdie. When Jin-Young approached it a couple of groups later, she found the ditch and racked up a double-bogey. The three-shot swing was decisive and Jin-Young’s brave, captivating challenge was all but over. “I will never ever forget that in my life, it was a mistake,” she reflected. Jin Young closed with a 71 for 279 and took second while another Korean, So Yeon Ryu, shot a 68 to share third with Lydia Ko on 280. Mel Reid of England and Amy Boulden from Wales were the best of the Brits in a tie for ninth while Catriona Matthew and Carly Booth, the only Scots to make the cut, finished well down the order on a day when Park demonstrated why she is on top of the world.