Injury-Free Park Prepared for Gold Medal Defence

Tokyo, Japan: Park In-bee is feeling relaxed and confident ahead of her gold medal defence at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 women’s golf competition which begins at Kasumigaseki Country Club on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old Park struck gold for Korea in Rio 2016 when golf made a welcome return to the Olympiad following a 112-year lapse – and she did so under intense pressure and scrutiny due to a lingering thumb injury and representing a golf-crazed nation.

“I mean, 2016 was far the most pressure-filled I’ve felt in my life. I don’t know if I could do that again. If I felt it again this year, I don’t think I would be able to play.

“It is definitely much better and much more relaxing this year because of my condition. In 2016, I had to deal with the injury, I had to deal with a lot of pressure. But this year is a bit different,” said the 21-time LPGA Tour legend.

“It’s a once in a four-year opportunity and I did want to play well and I didn’t want to withdraw. I was just trying really hard to fight the injury but a lot of people got worried. My family, my staff and probably the whole of Korea was worried that I was not in the best condition. I’ve been in a lot of situations where I felt a lot of pressure, but that kind of feeling gave me a power to overcome a lot of the stuff and being able to win gold was amazing.”

Park will tee up in the opening two rounds alongside silver medallist Lydia Ko of New Zealand and China’s Feng Shanshan, who won bronze in Rio, at 8.41 am on Wednesday in what will be one of the marquee groups.

World number one and recent KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Nelly Korda of the United States, world number two Ko Jin-young of Korea and world number 11 Nasa Hataoka of host country Japan will also attract plenty of attention when they begin their Olympic campaigns at 8.14 am.

Park, currently ranked third in the world, is strongly tipped to challenge for gold again as she has been in stellar form this season. She’s already won once and enjoyed six other top-10s leading up to Tokyo 2020. “I have no injury this year and I have been playing well. So it’s a little different to 2016, but the same result would be nice, right?” she said.

“I’m very excited to be here. Representing the country twice in a row is the biggest honour for me. Here in Tokyo and five years after Rio, it’s a dream come true for me. If I could put our flag in the highest point, that will even be a better experience. Hopefully the experience I had in Rio will help me get through this week. With the hot weather and humid conditions, you have to be conditioning yourself really well.”

Ko, an eight-time LPGA Tour winner, remembers watching Park win the gold medal … and started dreaming of Tokyo 2020. “I was watching TV and then she got a gold medal and I was thinking: ‘I really want to play in the Olympics in 2020’. This week is like my dream. I’m really proud to be on the same team with Inbee,” said Ko, who has one win and five top-10s this season.

Feng, a 10-time winner on the LPGA Tour, said winning the bronze medal in Rio was a major career highlight and it would motivate her to challenge for another podium finish in Tokyo, especially given she thinks this could be her last Olympics appearance.

“I would say a medal at the Olympics is very special because even though I’ve been a Major winner, we have five Majors every year. In four years we have 20 chances to win a Major. So I would say it’s much harder to get a medal at the Olympics. So it was the most important moment in my career,” said the 31-year-old.

Like Park, she intends to use her vast experience and success at the highest level to her benefit in what is expected to be a stern test at Kasumigaseki’s East Course.

“I'm not as nervous as last time. On that first tee I didn’t remember anything. I realised I was already walking down the fairway on the first hole, so I didn’t remember anything about the tee shot,” said Feng, who has three top-five finishes from eight starts this year.

“I wouldn’t say I’m in my best shape in my career. But I’m very confident about my game. I just want to enjoy and relax the whole week. I’m pretty sure this is my last Olympic Games, so I better enjoy it.”