Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Good as gold
Olympic victory rekindles Park’s love for golf
LAS COLINAS, Texas — Inbee Park could not contain her emotion any longer.
The normally calm, even stoic Park raised both arms into the air and a huge smile stretched across her face as she celebrated what she would later claim to be her crowning achievement.
Park, who has accomplished pretty much all there is on the LPGA Tour in a decade of greatness, earned the one victory she coveted more than any other by winning the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Her 16-under bested silver medalist Lydia Ko and Shanshan Feng, who won the bronze.
“It is the best achievement I have ever had,” Park said earlier this season at the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout. “I thought maybe it would be like a major tournament win, something like that. But this was totally different. It’s something I had never experienced before and never thought about before.”
And to think there were a lot of people, including some of her own Korean countrymen, who did not think that she should have been in Rio at all.
A NIGHTMARE SEASON
Park battled through a lot of adversity in 2016. The Hall of Famer agonized with a left thumb injury that forced her to miss two months on the LPGA Tour. From April through the rest of the season, she failed to complete a four-round event.
She made just 10 starts all season and, other than a second place finish at the Kia Classic in March, either withdrew or missed the cut in her final three events before shutting it down after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in early June.
The injury did not require surgery, Park said. Instead she opted to take the time off to let the thumb heal on its own.
“I just needed the time off to relax and not use it because it was overused,” she said.
With the thumb injury and missing most of the LPGA
season, there were those who questioned Park’s spot on the Korean Olympic team, which caused her to feel somewhat disrespected.
“I was really going back and forth about it,” Park said. “At one point I was thinking that I hadn’t played that much and I haven’t played well and I have an injury … maybe I should give up my spot. I lot of people tried to convince me to do it and a lot of people were telling me to do it.
“But I just thought about it and listened to my loved ones — my husband and my family — and they said you should take a crack at it, that it’s not something that you should just give up so easily.”
By stepping away from the weekly grind of the LPGA Tour, Park said she was able to channel her energy to her Olympic quest.
And with the time off, the thumb injury responded and she regained the form that made her a seven-time majors winner.
“The Olympics, it’s not like other tournaments,” Park said. “This only comes along every four years. So it was just one time and if I didn’t make this one, I didn’t know if I’d get that chance again. I thought it was something that I shouldn’t miss. I thought if I worked hard enough I could get through it. It wasn’t like I was playing in 10 events in a row. It was just the one event that I needed to get through.”
NO SURPRISE, REALLY
Ko, the No. 2 ranked player on the LPGA Tour, said Park’s steely resolve at the Olympics was no surprise to anyone on the tour. They’ve all seen it first-hand.
“If you pick out a person and go, ‘ Hey, after a few months off, who’s going to
play well,’ I would probably say Inbee,” Ko said. “She just has really good feel and it just looks like she is very simple and just confident. Her gold medal at the Olympics I think was incredible. To be able to pay alongside her in the final grouping was great.”
So Yeon Ryu, who is ranked No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings, is Park’s best friend on the tour.
In 2013 Park defeated Ryu in a playoff to win the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship en route to a stellar season that saw her win six events.
“She really struggled with her injury last year,” Ryu said. “She said ‘I don’t think I can make the Olympics because of the injury.’ But she won the gold medal. I was like, ‘I cannot believe this. You complain so much about your injury and you just won. You are the one that makes golf look easy.’
“That just proves how good she is. Even though she’d missed that many weeks, she was able to come back.”
Stacy Lewis, the former No. 1 player on the tour and the 2014 NW Arkansas Championship winner, said seeing Park on the medal stand with the gold was no surprise.
“She didn’t play any (LPGA) tournaments, and just comes out there and wins,” Lewis said. “It’s unreal.”
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
Park admits that her success over 10 seasons on the LPGA Tour may have caused her to take golf for granted. But after missing most of last season, then winning the gold medal has rekindled her passion for the game. Park will tee off at 1: 36 p. m. today in a group that also includes past winners Ko and Ai Miyazato.
“This injury helped me refocus, just how I approach the game and life itself,” she said. “To just enjoy the moment and enjoy the fact that I’m out here playing professional golf. I think I didn’t really appreciate that before. I thought it was just given to me and I thought I would just have this forever. But after the injury I thought maybe I’m not going to have this. So now I’m just trying to enjoy the moment and try to enjoy the game more.”
Ryu also thinks the time away helped recharge Park’s desire to compete at a high level every week on the tour.
“I think while she was not playing, she realized how much she loved golf and how much she loves to play golf,” Ryu said. “So sometimes getting away from golf can be refreshing in your mind.”
After the Olympic win, Park again took time off to let the thumb injury continue to heal. She opened this season with a bang.
In the first nine starts of the season, Park finished in the top 10 three times with a win at the HSBC Women’s Championship in the second week of the season. She followed that with a third at the ANA Inspiration and a fifth at the Bank of Hope Founder’s Cup and comes into this week ranked No. 7 in the world.
Ryu said she’s just happy
to see Park enjoying the game again.
“I played with her in Arizona. She’s back. Her putting was awesome. I told her that she’s playing like she did in 2013,” Ryu said. “I said, ‘You’re going to be rocking and rolling this year again.’ I’m so glad to have her back. She’s my best friend on the tour, so I’m definitely happy to be traveling with her. I was really worried about her injury, but it looks like it’s better and she’s playing well again. I look forward to having my best friend back.”
Park is still chasing several milestones, like Patty Berg’s 15 majors titles. She’s also seventh on the all-time career money list.
She said she plans to stay in the game a while longer if she can remain healthy.
“I don’t really know how much longer I will play,” Park said. “As long as my body feels good, and as long as feel like I can compete out here, that’s how long I will play.”