“I think there’s no need to live if I didn’t have family. It was my family that supported me when I was going through a four-year slump, which felt like an endless rut at the time. I met my husband and decided not to quit when I was thinking of retiring from golf. I am giving up participating in the LPGA Tour Cambia Portland Classic next week to spend time with by dog ‘Semi’. It might be the last time I’ll be with Semi. She’s family, not just a pet.”
“If I want to put an end to all this, it’d be nice to win the Evian Championship in September. But that’s not my ultimate goal. My biggest objective is to enter the World Golf Hall of Fame. I started playing golf because I wanted to leave my mark on the history of the game. I want to do just that.”
“I think if six or seven out of the 10 best players on the Korean tour were from overseas, we’d feel the same. But I think the players should be thankful for the competition, and the real professionals are the ones who beat their rivals.”
- Park In-bee, Golf Player
In South Korea for a domestic tour event, South Korean star Park In-bee reiterated at a press conference Thursday that the most important thing to her is family, and that she believes she has completed her slam. (Image : Yonhap)
JEJU, Aug. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – In South Korea for a domestic tour event, South Korean star Park In-bee reiterated at a press conference Thursday that the most important thing to her is family, and that she believes she has completed her slam.
Since capturing the Ricoh Women’s British Open for her fourth different LPGA major title, Park has had to defend her belief that her accomplishment qualifies as a career grand slam.
Park’s monumental victory set off debate because the LPGA Tour added a fifth major in 2013, and some think Park must win that new major, the Evian Championship, to truly complete the slam. Park, however, is not interested in the whole debate, and feels strongly that she already reached a career slam. Besides, she has a bigger ambition – to leave her mark on golf’s history.
Since capturing the Ricoh Women’s British Open for her fourth different LPGA major title, Park has had to defend her belief that her accomplishment qualifies as a career grand slam. (Image : Yonhap)
For the record, the LPGA Tour has recognized Park’s feat as a career slam.
Park said she thinks some American players may feel “jealous” of South Koreans’ dominance, but she commented that it could be natural and it is always good to have competitors to boost motivation.
When an American veteran, Cristie Kerr, was compelled to say of South Koreans: “They are machines. They practice 10 hours a day”, Park offered a cool response, saying, “Then they should build better machines.”
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
