SINGAPORE | On a scale of one to 10, Inbee Park made sure to give her husband and coach, Gi Hyeob Nam, all the credit for making it through the first day in Singapore at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
“I think I'm going to give him ten and probably ten for the rest of the week because I'm really thankful that he's doing this for me and in this heat. It's very tough conditions. I'm just really thankful that he's carrying the bank. I don't need an exact number. I don't need anything. I just need him next to me, that's all, just carrying the bag,” said Park, who leads the 69-player field at -8. “He caddied for me in the AIG Women's Open, and I mean it was probably about ten degrees -- probably like, yeah, ten degrees Celsius. It's probably 20 degrees difference. So he's going to have to work hard this week.”
With a familiar face like her husband on the bag, Park said her confidence was at an all-time high, even though she changed her pre-round routine. “I think we started the day pretty solid and I was giving myself less warm up time this week,” said Park. “I usually allow myself like an hour. I was only doing like 40 minutes this morning just trying to get my energy level not so down. So I think that worked out good.”
With three rounds ahead of her, Park said she would only give herself a nine out of 10 for the day, after a misread on the final hole. She said she’ll also look to improve on some of the longer holes that the New Tanjong Course presents.
“I'm really not a perfectionist, and even though I missed the last putt, I mean, my husband said, oh, you know, you could have read that a little more correctly. But I just told him, that's okay, that's the only one we missed pretty much. Let it go and new day tomorrow,” said Park. “My concentration this week is No. 11 and 12 because I probably hit about -- hybrid or 5-wood or 3-wood into the hole. That's going to, I'm trying not to lose shots on those two holes, which I did today. So yeah, that's my key focus.”
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