Wie returns from hand injury to play for USA
INCHEON, South Korea – There are no captains at the UL International Crown. No substitutes either. When England’s Mel Reid took two top-50 players to the 18th hole by herself two years ago at Merit Club after Charley Hull fell ill, it was riveting theater.
Michelle Wie tees it up at the International Crown for the first time since she withdrew from the Ricoh Women’s British Open on Aug. 2 with a lingering right hand injury. She started working on her game again just 10 days ago, raising questions as to how she’ll hold up over a four-day competition. Wie said the break was tough on her mentally.
“I think you go through something like that and you kind of just realize that you take a lot of things for granted,” she said. “Just not being able to do what I loved to do, it was very hard. But I’m just so excited to be back here playing golf again. Very excited.”
Wie will partner with Jessica Korda in Thursday’s (Wednesday night in the U.S.) opening four-ball competition against Sweden. The pair of friends often compare ailments.
“Michelle (Wie) and I just say we’re glass houses and that we just need different body parts,” Korda said at last year’s U.S. Women’s Open. “When you’re tall and lanky, it’s a problem.”
The injuries often lead to unplanned swing changes as well.
“You know when I started practicing, I picked up a golf club and I couldn’t swing the way I used to,” she said. “I worked with my trainer, David (Leadbetter), and we just tried to figure out what position doesn’t hurt. Went there, and just trying to swing as pain-free as I can. It actually feels pretty good. ... Thankfully I’m used to just ripping up my swing, so just another day.”
Advice for home-crowd fans
All four players on South Korea’s team boast major championships. They’re sports heroes in Korea, with dedicated fan clubs who travel the globe to watch them compete. Eight countries qualified for the International Crown, but the majority of the crowd will be focused on the last two tee times Thursday, when South Korea takes on Taiwan.
Organizers expect 30,000 fans, numbers which could easily rival what the Presidents Cup drew here in 2015.
Candie Kung vowed to bring an air horn on Thursday to help control the crowds.
“You’re going to hear cellphones clicking, ringing, people walking, talking; anything you can think of it’s going to happen tomorrow,” Kung said. “There is going to be a point where I’m probably not going to be able to walk from the green to the tee box.”
Kung and Phoebe Yao will take on World No. 1 Sung Hyun Park and In-Kyung Kim in Friday’s foursomes. In Gee Chun and So Yeon Ryu will square off against Teresa Lu and Wei-Ling Hsu.
Park’s caddie, David Jones, said the craziest day he has experienced working in Asia came last year at the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship when Jin Young Ko and Minjee Lee were paired with his boss in the final group on Sunday. Jones said there were more than 20,000 fans following the group.
“It was just absolute carnage,” he said. “You can’t police it. It’s too much. In fact, the more you try to police, the more noise you create.”
So Yeon Ryu said South Korean fans tend to be more aggressive than an American crowd. She had a message for fans before the event.
“If there was one favor I could ask to the gallery or the crowds that will be showing up,” Ryu said, “I think that if they could refrain from very, very sharp criticism that would help as well. With the game of golf, you never know who is going to win until you take off the gloves.
“Of course we need to take advice, but really painful, sharp criticism can actually erode our confidence. I think that if we were given a lot of support during the event then we would definitely be able to win this time.”
The favorites every year on paper, South Korea has yet to win this event. Spain triumphed at the inaugural competition in 2014 and the U.S. followed in 2016. South Korea finished one point behind the U.S. at Merit Club. Ryu is the only returner from that team.