2013 US Women’s Open: Inbee Park Chases History
By Les Bailey
Inbee Park has five victories on the LPGA Tour in the 2013 season that includes both major championships. The 24 year-old South Korean who played her collegiate golf at the University of Nevada Las Vegas will tee it up at the US Women’s Open this week in Southampton and attempt to do something that hasn’t been done since Babe Zaharias won three consecutive Majors in 1950.
Babe Zaharias, Mickey Wright and Pat Bradley have all won three majors in one year, with Babe being the only one to do it consecutively. Inbee Park can tie all three with a victory at Sebonack Golf Club this week. Park won the Kraft Nabisco Championship earlier in the year at Rancho Mirage, and followed it with the Wegmans LPGA Championship.
In addition to the two majors in the 2013 season, Inbee Park has also won her first tournament of the year at The Honda LPGA Thailand, The North Texas LPGA Shootout, and last week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
She cooled a bit after her victory in Thailand and briefly lost her number one Rolex Ranking until Masters week after her victory at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Park has continued to put some distance on the field and now is in firm control of the ranking.
Inbee Park has been playing golf since age 10, and credits her father with the development of her game. She joined the tour in 2007, and has won eight times. She has 44 top ten finishes, and has won over $6.5 Million dollars. Her career has taken off this year however, since she has began touring with her fiancée and not her parents. She felt they were too critical, and put too much pressure on her game.
Park in not the biggest hitter on tour, but is by far it’s best putter. She has a cool, calm demeanor that doesn’t change whether she is coming down the stretch with a chance to win, or is in 37th position. She can match Tiger Woods as one of the best pressure putters on any golf tour. In fact, if she were on the PGA Tour, with five victories, and two majors on her 2013 resume, she would be filling up Sports Center with lead stories, and be the talk of golf.
If you haven’t had a chance to catch an LPGA event this year, it’s time to tune in. Inbee Park, along with American Star, Stacy Lewis are bringing new life into a sport that has almost been forgotten in the US. There is a bunch of new talent on this tour, and they have produced one of the more exciting years we have had on the LPGA in some time.
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