Korean Influence
Juli Inkster remembers when she first teed it up with Se Ri Pak in 1998. That was 17 years ago, and women’s golf in Korea has exploded ever since.
“It’s evolved rapidly,” Inkster said. “Se Ri was a very powerful player, very well spoken. Their work ethic and their techniques, amazing. It’s been great for worldwide golf.”
Pak started the explosion with her win at the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open, world No. 4 So Yeon Ryu said. All the sudden golf was in vogue, and the host of Korean contenders on the LPGA Tour continued to grow.
“They really set the bar high for all of us, and they are a lot of fun,” Inkster said. “I really enjoy being around them and being with them and playing with them. They are very respectful and they honor golf and respect the game of golf. That’s how I was brought up to play, and I can see it carrying on the tradition.”
Inkster admits being partially jealous every time she comes over to the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship here in Incheon because of the reverence shown to the Korean players. She attended the President’s Cup nearby Sunday to support her friend, United States Captain Jay Haas, and even there in her full American rain gear, she couldn’t hide from the spotlight that’s on women’s golf in Korea.
“What I love about Korea is the way they embrace their players. They have so much respect for women’s golf,” Inkster said. “I wish the United States would do more of that. I couldn’t believe how many people knew my name out there. These players coming up, and Se Ri really set the stage, that they respect their games and they respect women’s golf, which I think is marvelous right now!”
Ryu said there’s a strong sense of national pride in Korea so when Se Ri won four times, including two major championships in her rookie season, the candle was lit and the golf craze spread like wildfire.
“I would say women’s golf is like football in the States,” Ryu said.
Added Inbee Park: “Korean people are really passionate about everything. It’s a really small country compared to the United States so everything gets spread really quickly here than back in the United States.”
Battle for No. 1 Continues
Lydia Ko wants everyone to know that she’s not just spewing drivel for the sake of humility. She really means it when she says that she doesn’t think that she deserves to be the No. 1 golfer in the world, despite two wins and a runner-up finish in her last three starts.
“To me personally, I’m not trying to be all humble and all that, but I really feel like Inbee deserves to be in that world No. 1 ranking,” Ko said. “I mean, she did a career Grand Slam this year, she won two majors, and she won two other events. So when you have that kind of year and you played consistently well the last couple of years, you deserve to be there.”
When it comes to the No. 1 ranking, Ko could care less. She wants to win and if that comes with it, so be it, but she’d really just prefer to have fun. Well, that and avoid any talk of No. 1.
“I mean, to me, it’s so much fun to be able to play alongside Inbee, Juli, So Yeon, and In Gee; to just go out there and have fun and all of us try to hold the trophy at the end of the week,” Ko said. “I think in a way, we are kind of missing out on the most important part; that we are out here trying to play some great golf, show what the LPGA is like, and I think that’s the most important thing; rather than one shot or what one placing could do to the World Rankings.”
Park agreed and, for her part, admitted that in years past she’s let the talk around the No. 1 ranking and season-ending awards put pressure on her late in the year. She didn’t really enjoy herself as much as she would have liked as a result and thought it was detrimental to her game. Although the awards are more up in the air than ever before with Park owning a nearly edge in the money list and Rolex Player of the Year standings with Ko owning a narrow edge in the Vare Trophy and Race to the CME Globe standings, Park’s determined to avoid the noise this go around.
“Recently I came to realize that being aware and conscious of defending these different titles has kind of sacrificed my game in a way,” Park said, “because I kind of tend to lose my concentration by really paying attention to something that is not really central and pivotal to the game. In fact, the past two to three years, I haven’t really been able to enjoy myself during the Asia Swing, especially when this is a time when you’re wrapping up the season and you’re supposed to have more fun and relax.”
Her goal for the year - win the RICOH Women’s British Open - is already complete, and so really whatever comes her way the rest of the season is essentially the cherry on top of the cake at this point, and she’s taking Ko’s approach of fun over everything else.
“My goal is to really not get side stepped by these distractions that come in the form of defending these various titles, and I really want to enjoy myself,” Park said.
Room For Improvement
It’s hard to imagine being the top ranked player in the world and yet still needing improvement. But, if there was one area of World No.1 Inbee Park's game that needs a bit of help, she says it’s her putting. She currently ranks second in putts per GIR at 1.75 and 13th in putting average at 29.2.
“At the Evian Championship, I struggled with my putting and thought that it could not get any worse, but in Malaysia, I struggled with my putting again,” said Park. “I thought I might get cancer from the stress.”
In hopes of getting it rolling better this week in Korea, Park put in some extra practice she doesn't normally do during her weekly prep.
“It’s just I think the putting that’s kind of holding back my score at this point,” Park said. “So I usually don’t practice on Mondays, but today I kind of wanted to get out there and try to see if I could find what I can change. But that’s not something that can be identified so easily.”
Park says she she’s keeping her expectations realistic this week given her struggles on the putting surface.
“I’m just going to not have very high hopes. I’m going to keep my expectations low. But I will do my best and try to practice.”
The last time Park said she had low expectations for her week, she won the RICOH Women’s British Open and the Career Grand Slam.
From Solheim Cup to Presidents Cup
Last week’s Presidents Cup was staged just 20 minutes from the site of this week’s LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship in Korea, where U.S. Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster enjoyed the VIP treatment in supporting fellow captain Jay Haas and his team’s victory over the Internationals.
“Jay Haas and I have played a lot of golf together. We are very good friends. So he invited me,” said Inkster. “I stayed in the team room for awhile. They geared me up with rain gear and hats and all that. I got inside the ropes. I watched Phil Mickelson for nine holes and then I watched Billy Haas for nine holes.”
Inkster said the reaction she’s received since her team’s victory at the Solheim Cup has been great and is blown away by the great golf the Americans played on Sunday to get the win.
“The response was phenomenal. Everybody in the United States, it was great for women’s golf. I thought the golf that week was phenomenal. You know, just my team on Sunday made 70 birdies. So they played really great golf,” said Inkster.
Inkster received a sponsor’s invite to compete this week in Korea.
Numbers To Know
0 - Number of starts Q Baek had made on the LPGA Tour before her win here a year ago.
.03 - Lydia Ko leads by .03 strokes per round in the Vare Trophy standings.
.26 - Inbee Park leads Lydia Ko by .26 points in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. For comparison’s sake, Park leads No. 3 Stacy Lewis by 3.5 points.
34 - There are 34 South Korean players on the LPGA Tour in 2015.
1998 - Se Ri Pak started the Korean women’s golf explosion with one of the finest rookie seasons in LPGA Tour history - a four win season in which she won both the U.S. Women’s Open and McDonald’s LPGA Championship.
$12,216 - The amount that Inbee Park leads Lydia Ko by on the money list.
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