Rolex Rankings No. 3 Inbee Park can’t remember the last time she had to finish a tournament on Monday. With last week’s U.S. Women’s Open spilling over into this week, Park arrived at the CME Group Tour Championship a little later than usual, pulling into Naples late Monday night. But in her sixth trip to Tiburon Golf Club, Park already knows the challenge that awaits her here – these greens.
“I never really feel like I've conquered this green at all over all those years. The tee-to-green is not a big issue. I think it just really comes down to the putting, and the bermuda greens can get really tricky on you,” said Park on Wednesday. “I'm just trying to adjust the speed on the greens and read the putts right. You can't read them right all the time but I'm just trying to do a little better every time, and hopefully I can putt a little better this week.”
Park sits atop the standings for Rolex Player of the Year honors, leading Sei Young Kim by six points and Danielle Kang by 25 points. The trio will tee it up together in Thursday’s first round, starting on No. 1 at 10:50 a.m. If Park can capture the award, she would become the 14th player to win the title multiple times after she previously earning the honor in 2013. Park said adding this award to her 2020 resume would be a great “souvenir” of such a strange yet fulfilling season.
“This year has been a gift. I'm just happy that we got to play,” said Park, who won her 20th LPGA Tour title in February at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open and has seven other top-10 finishes this year. “That's really all I can ask for. If the results follow, that's great. If not, I'm just really happy we're out here and playing and playing some really good golf.”)
)
)
)
