Inbee Park withdraws from LPGA's final major, The Evian Championship

Inbee Park took home the gold medal in Rio. (Getty Images)

After winning an Olympic gold medal in Rio, Inbee Park will continue taking a sabbatical from the LPGA Tour, including the tour’s final major of the season.

Park withdrew from The Evian Championship on Wednesday, citing the left thumb injury that kept her out of the two previous majors, the U.S. Women’s Open and a title defense at the Ricoh Women’s British Open.

“The Evian Championship means so much to me, and I really wanted to see the beautiful Evian Resort Golf Club once again and compete to win,” Park said, according to Golf Channel. “Unfortunately, my left thumb injury needs more rehabilitation than I wished for. Last week, I had to put on a cast to immobilize my left thumb and the recovery is potentially expected longer than the Evian Championship week. Therefore, I will be unable to commit to this year’s championship, and I will focus on getting fully recovered from the injury and put all efforts to being back on the golf course as soon as possible.”

The South Korean is a former winner of the tournament, doing so in 2012 before the event became the LPGA’s fifth major.

The Evian Championship will be played amid its usual French backdrop Sept. 15-18. After that, the next time we might see Park could be when the LPGA returns to Asia for its fall swing through the continent, including her home nation event, the KEB Hana Bank Championship, which will be played Oct. 13-16 in Incheon/Seoul.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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