Inbee Park sets sights on U.S. Women's Open in Lancaster

LANCASTER - When it comes to playing in the pressure-packed atmosphere of a major championship, Inbee Park truly knows what it takes to get "in the zone" to reach a level that many of her fellow LPGA Tour competitors cannot achieve.

An example can be drawn from the final round of last month's KPMG Women's PGA Championship, the season's second major. Park began the day with a 2-stroke lead and calmly carved out a bogey-free 5-under-par 68 at Westchester Country Club in suburban New York to win by 5 and finish at 19-under for the event.

It was her fifth victory in her last 12 majors and her sixth major in 15 career LPGA titles for the 26-year-old native of South Korea, who also climbed to No. 1 in the world rankings for the third time. That scene could very well repeat itself this week in the U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club.

"I think it's so much fun being in contention in major championships in the final round when you play for the trophy," Park said Tuesday. "I just had so much fun at KPMG, where I knew I had the lead in the final round and I never really let it go. I tried to not feel too much pressure, tried to really enjoy that day, the opportunity I had."

Park has been strong at the majors since her first tour victory in the 2008 U.S. Women's Open at Interlachen in Edina, Minn., where she became the youngest player (19 years, 11 months, 17 days) to win the championship. She later captured the first three majors - Kraft Nabisco, Wegmans LPGA Championship and U.S. Women's Open - of 2013, the first player in the modern era to do that.

When asked why she does so well in majors, she shrugged and said, "I don't really know.

"I always try to think that I play good in the major championships," she said. "I am good at the tough golf courses. I am good under pressure. I just try to keep talking to myself that way and try to give myself the confidence coming into the majors. So I think that's how it's really worked the last few years, and I try to just keep that going."

Lexi Thompson, who has one career major championship, has been paired quite a bit recently with Park and is impressed.

"It's incredible to watch her game," the 20-year-old American said. "She's an amazing ball-striker, but she chips and rolls it incredible. I think that's why she's performed so well, especially in major championships.

"Her mental side of the game, even when she's playing bad or good, it's still the whole same attitude on the golf course. You can't tell it if she's playing good or bad - which is hardly ever. She's great to play with, just her demeanor on the golf course and the tempo of her swing and everything."

Park has won two other times this season, at the HSBC event in Singapore and the North Texas Shootout near Dallas. She enters the Women's Open on a slight down note, having missed her first cut of 2015 two weeks ago at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

"I putted really bad and that definitely gave me somewhat of a wake-up call because I haven't really had a bad tournament or a bad week," she said. "That definitely made me practice harder and gave me a lot more motivation coming into this week."

That may be bad news for the rest of the field. If Park gets back in that zone this week at Lancaster, they'd better watch out.

The U.S. Golf Association said that Paul Fusco, the caddie for Sei Young Kim, will not be allowed to work this week at the U.S. Women's Open after he was detected taking photographs of internal USGA notes on hole locations for the week and ejected from Lancaster Country Club.

Kim, the runner-up to Park at the KPMG Women's PGA, is second to Park on the LPGA money list and is the tour's top rookie. Golfweek originally reported the story, which later was confirmed by the USGA.

6

Career major titles, most ever by a Korean-born player (Se Ri Pak has 5).

11.373

Career LPGA Tour earnings, in millions of dollars.

1

Park's world ranking after her victory in last month's Women's PGA Championship.

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