Park falters in bid for historic Slam

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This article was published 03/08/2013 (4756 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. ANDREWS — Inbee Park caught the bad end of the draw at St. Andrews, made worse by not having her best golf.

Before she can think about a chance to make history as the first golfer to win four professional majors in the same season, Park faced a more immediate concern Friday afternoon in the Women’s British Open — how to make up an eight-shot deficit against Na Yeon Choi.

“I’m so far back,” Park said after a birdie on the final hole to salvage a 1-over 73. “We need some tough conditions.”

The last time there was talk about a Grand Slam in this area of Scotland was 11 years ago, across the Firth of Forth at Muirfield, where Tiger Woods was going for the third leg of the Slam. A nasty storm that arrived without warning blew him off course to an 81 in the third round and that was the end of it.

This wind at St. Andrews was the strongest of the week, though nothing out of the ordinary.

Choi played four groups behind Park and turned in a command performance, making six birdies for a 5-under 67 that gave her a one-shot lead over Miki Saiki of Japan going into the weekend. Saiki set the Old Course record for the Women’s British Open with a 66 in the morning, where the only nuisance was a few bursts of showers.

Choi’s 67 was 8.4 shots better than the average score of those who played in the afternoon, and one of only three rounds in the 60s. Conditions were so demanding when Choi was asked to give details of her six birdies, the South Korean couldn’t recall much further back than the 17th hole.

“Five hours out there, this kind of weather, it’s hard to remember,” she said.

It’s a round Park would like to forget, one that will make her quest even more difficult to add to her trio of majors this year.

“A little bit of everything wasn’t working well out there today,” Park said. “I don’t feel like I played horrible today. A little bit unlucky with the draw, not playing in the morning when it’s lovely. But that’s the way it is.”

Her problems started on the opening hole, when her approach over the Swilcan Burn rode the wind and bounced beyond the green some 50 feet from the flag. Her chip only got halfway there, and she two-putted for bogey.

Park was never under par at any point in her round. A birdie on the sixth was offset by a three-putt bogey on the 10th. A birdie on the 12th was followed by a bogey on the 13th, in part due to a bad break. On the toughest driving hole on the back nine, Park hit her best tee shot — only for it to roll into a sand-filled divot. Her approach came up just short of the green, and she hit putter down the slope and 10 feet past the cup.

— The Associated Press