Beware the injured star.
Be careful when they are not 100 percent and Inbee Park was not coming into the women’s Olympic Golf competition in Rio this past week.
She said early in the week that she was perhaps “80 percent.”
Beware of the veteran, the Hall Of Fame player, the seven-time major champion.
Eighty percent was plenty good enough.
It was so good that on Saturday, the next to last day of the games, with Gold on the line, Park basically did a Usain Bolt and buried the rest of the field, took the heart and will out of anyone who thought they might take the Gold. She was like Bolt, blowing everyone away only she wasn’t smiling at them in the process. She was her usual, stoic self, it’s the South Korean way.
Don’t show emotion, don’t let ’em see you sweat. Keep ’em wondering.
The field teed off early Saturday to avoid some predicted bad weather that threatened to move in later in the day.
While playing partners Lydia Ko and Gerina Piller struggled, Park played like the Park who spent a lot of time at No. 1, like the Park who won all those majors, like the youngest Hall of Fame inductee at age 28. While they struggled, she went par-par then blitzed ’em with three straight birdies. It was only the fifth hole but for all intents and purposes, it was over. All Park needed to do was keep walking, keep swinging, keep making putts, basically stay upright and keep breathing.
“This could be the highlight of my career,” Park said on Friday, fully realizing what was in front of her and her own capabilities. “To represent South Korea is something very special, a huge honor.”
Did we mention that golf is HUGE in South Korea, women’s golf, even moreso.
This was very special indeed when you consider that Park didn’t play very much in the two months heading into the Olympics. It was all about the bum left thumb, perhaps the most important finger used in the grip. Hers was not good. She hadn’t broken 70 in a long time. She was among the best players in the field, but a lot of eyes were focused on the youngsters — Ko, Ariya Jutanugarn and Brooke Herderson, the kiddie brigade, all substantially younger than Park and ranked 1-2-3 in the world.
Ko hung in there, obviously, and made the putt she needed to make to grab Silver. But she didn’t make enough putts, not like she normally does.
Jutanugarn looked like a serious contender for Gold after opening with 65-71 but something went terribly wrong on Friday. After suffering three double-bogeys and two triples, she was off the course by the 14th hole, her left knee gave out and she was gone from the competition.
Henderson was a Gold contender after shooting 70-64 but a Friday 75 hurt badly. She came back and finished with 67. At eight-under, she tied for seventh and will leave realizing one bad day squashed her medal dreams.
But there were no broken dreams for Park.
She carried the weight of a golf-crazed nation on her shoulders and never buckled.
“I putted well all week,” she admitted and when a great player putts well, great things happen.
Great things did happen for Inbee Park, who showed the world that age and inexperience can trump youth and talent.
