NO WORRIES FOR NO. 1

Inbee Park had to withdraw from Tuesday’s Pro-Am, sending up red flags among the media that Inbee’s bid for the career grand slam may be in jeopardy his week. Park played a practice round Wednesday morning though and assured in her press conference afterwards that she’d be ready to go come Thursday despite a lower back that’s been
bothering her.

“It just happened,” Park said of her back. “I think just because of the long flight that I flew. Yesterday I felt a little bit of back spasm on my back. You know it was hard to bend down yesterday, so I really didn’t want to irritate it. Playing 18 holes yesterday in the cold weather was only going to do worse.”

Instead of playing, Park met with her physiotherapist and was able to play 18 Wednesday with only a little bit of pain. She’s not 100 percent, she admits, but it’s easily manageable now.

It hasn’t impacted her play so far and she doesn’t expect it to this week. She was even asked if her her final-round 76 at the Meijer LPGA Classic Presented by Kraft was in any way related to her back, and she quickly dispelled the notion.

“My body was fine then,” Park said. “I had a touch of a cold last week but that didn’t really have to do with the results. I just lost my feel and the feel of my swing. I was just hitting it everywhere on the final round and just couldn’t get that back. A couple of – it’s still there. A couple of days I practiced here. I made a couple of bad shots, but I think you’ve just got to play with it. This tournament is not going to move two weeks later because I want it to. I mean, it’s starting tomorrow, anyway. I have to figure something out. Yeah, I’ve got to hole a lot of putts I guess.”

Park clearly saves her best for the majors. In her last 13 major championship starts, she’s posted five wins.

RICOH EXTENDS SPONSORSHIP OF WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN THROUGH 2018
Global technology leader, RICOH, signed an agreement with the Ladies Golf Union and IMG today to continue as title sponsor of the RICOH Women’s British Open through 2018.

RICOH is a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services. This week, RICOH is enjoying its ninth year as title sponsor of the Championship.

Woburn Golf Club and Kingsbarns Golf Links will host the RICOH Women’s British Open in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

READY FOR THE MAJOR STAGE
Lexi Thompson arrived to Turnberry riding a wave of momentum fresh off her fifth career win last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic and the 20-year old seems quite content with the state of her game. Thompson showed some signs of discomfort of a bone bruise on her wrist sustained during a photo shoot where she was boxing a reporter, but seemed to play through any pain in Grand Rapids.

“Yeah, definitely is, coming off last week, a win gave me a lot of confidence going into this week, especially being the British Women’s Open and being a major week,” said Thompson.

Thompson’s recent record in major championships has been one of consistency and hopes to continue that this week in her fourth Women’s British Open appearance. In her last nine starts in majors dating back to the 2013 Evian Championship, Thompson has recorded six top-10 finishes including two tied for third finishes and a win. She’ll be playing for her second major championship this week. Asked what helps her perform so well on the big stage, Thompson said it comes in her preparation.

“I would just say it’s all about preparation, mentally, physically and just how you practice around the golf course,” said Thompson. “Usually major weeks, it’s a lot more practice for tee shots, getting lines off the tees and a lot more short weeks. Usually major weeks play a lot tougher with the rough and the conditions of the golf course. You have to practice short game a lot and get the breaks of the greens down.”

Thompson said the Ailsa Course suits her eye and after two days of full practice rounds, she is optimistic about her game plan and is ready for any conditions.

“Oh, I think it’s an amazing golf course,” said Thompson. “I got to play in the Pro Am yesterday and played 18 today, got all the tee shots down. It wasn’t too windy the last two days. So I don’t know what the weather has in store for us the next few days but hopefully we’ll get some sun. But I’m ready for all types of weather coming here.”

QUEST FOR A GRAND SLAM
This is Inbee Park’s third crack at the traditional Grand Slam but surprisingly the pressure’s decreased substantially since that initial crack at it. In 2013, Park was going for an unprecedented calendar Grand Slam, having won the season’s first three majors. That’s not the case this year but that doesn’t mean she wants it any less after playing the last five holes, three of which were par-5s, in 2-over-par to lose by two shots a year ago.

“Yeah, I think it’s gotten better and better every year. 2013 was obviously really the craziest pressure,” Park said. “And then 2014 got a little bit better, and then this year, I feel a lot less pressure. Because last week, I didn’t play well at all. Last week in the final round, I had probably one of my worst rounds of the year, and I was just hitting the ball everywhere last week in the last final round. Really it freed up my mind, that round.”

Park’s posted a tie for 42nd and a 4th in her last two attempts at the career Grand Slam at the Women’s British and although the pressure’s decreased, her desire to join Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright, Pat Bradley, Juli Inkster, Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb in the record books.

“I think it’s one of my most wanted goals winning the British Open; and playing in the Olympics would be two big goals in my life, yeah,” Park said.

Park said the difficult thing about conquering the British is luck comes into play more than any other major. Even if your game is where it needs to be, it might not be enough here.

“Luck really comes into play,” Park said. “Definitely the British Open is sort of – compared to other tournaments, the draw, the tee times, lie of the bunkers. I think golf it always has to do somewhat with luck but this week definitely has a lot to do with luck as well.”

That’s why she’s hoping she’ll get lucky and rediscover the form she had at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She certainly didn’t it last week in a tie for 44th – her second worst finish of 2015 – and Park was honest in her press conference that she hasn’t had it so far this week in her practice rounds.

“I come into this week with no expectations. You get a couple weeks like that where you don’t feel like you’re hitting the ball that well,” Park said. “But sometimes it takes a couple days to get back, sometimes it can take one or two weeks to get back to position.

“It’s just all timing. It’s sad that it’s happening and it just happened last week, and I’m not hitting the ball as great as I have been hitting it. All this year I’ve been really consistent, but since last week, it’s the time of year where I’m not really hitting it that great.”

But she’s got the putter, and when Inbee’s got the flatstick working, she’s always got a chance.

“The putting feels like it’s much better. Last week I putted pretty good, just the ball striking wasn’t there,” Park said. “But a couple days I played here, it’s not great, but I think I can play with it.”

WHERE’S MY NINTENDO?
Charley Hull’s prize for winning a playoff 10 years ago at Turnberry wasn’t a trophy but rather a return to her Nintendo DS. The then 9-year-old Hull won the Health Perception Great Britain Amateur Championship and the now 19-year-old vividly recalls the news that she was heading into a playoff for the tournament.

“I came in and it was raining. I remember just wanting to come in and play my Nintendo DS,” Hull said. “And I had to go out in a playoff, and a member was like, ‘No, Charley, you’ve got to go out and play.’ And I was like ‘I don’t want to. I want to carry on playing like this.’ I won on the second playoff hole and then I ran in and played again on my Nintendo DS.”

Hull was just a kid then, but her playoff competitor “was like 35,” Hull recalls. A lot has changed since then. She hits it about 150 yards further, and she weighs enough to not be blown away by the coastal wind.

“It was like 50-mile-per-hour winds and I fell over, the wind blew me over on the 11th hole, the par 3,” Hull said.

Old enough to stand her ground in the wind and now equipped with the type of game that she believes can not only contend but win a major. She finished T12 at this Championship a year ago after a third-round 66 and feels like she’s more capable of streaming four great rounds in a row together than she was a year ago.

“Well, so far this year, I was leading quite a few times after the second or first round and just fell away quite a little bit,” Hull said. “I’m still young, and I feel like I’m ready to win a major. It’s just got to put all four rounds together. But I’m getting there and I feel like my swing is in a better place and I feel like I’m a better player this year as well. We’ll see hopefully.”

QUOTES OF THE DAY
“I mean, I’m sure things could have been very different but it would have cost a lot of money, i.e., a jet, all the way, and no one was going to do that. It wasn’t that important for all that kind of money -- it wasn’t. I would have rather had the cash and stayed in America.” - Laura Davies on not making the World Golf Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this month

RICOH Women's British Open Pre-tournament News & Notes

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