Park In-bee, Jeon In-ji to face off at Women’s British Open

Park In-bee, Jeon In-ji to face off at Women’s British Open. July. 29, 2015 07:15. creating@donga.com.

Will Park In-bee (27) will achieve her career Grand Slam, or will Jeon In-ji (21) receive the title at two consecutive major tournaments?

Park In-bee and Jeon In-ji are under strong spotlight ahead of the Women’s British Open, the fourth major tournament of the U.S. LPGA Tour, which will kick off at Ailsa Course (par 72) at Trump Turnberry Resort in Scotland on Thursday.

Park was atop at the three major tournaments, including the U.S. Women’s Open, the ANA Inspiration, and the Women’s PGA Championship. If she wins the title at the British Open, she will achieve her career Grand Slam (winning the title at four major championships, irrespective of years). She can achieve career Grand Slam if she just wins the Evian Championship. “My biggest goal is to achieve my career Grand Slam by winning the British Open in this season,” Park said, expressing strong interest in the event.

Early this year, Park focused her training on factors targeting the British Open, such as how to adapt her to chilly weather and how to conduct rounding wearing thick clothes. She is highly experienced and has been strong in major golf tournaments, but a cause for concern is her performance that seems to be on the wane now after hitting the peak. Since winning the title at the LPGA Women’s PGA Championship, she has seen her putting on a shaky ground and displayed lackluster performances. At the Meijer LPGA Classic, which ended on Monday, she also had trouble with her iron shots and only tied for 44th overall.

When only considering recent performance, Jeon stands out, while achieving an amazing record of winning three major tournaments in a single season. “It is physically challenging, but I feel thrilled and excited to think that I will play at a place with a long history of golf," Jeon said. "I will come there with high spirit, and do my best.” Notably, Turnberry Resort, infamous for bad weather and strong winds, would be advantageous to Jeon, because she is so good at golfing amid rain. “When raining in the summer, it is even better to play golf," she used to say.

Kim Hyo-joo (20), Kim Se-young (22), Ryu So-yeon (25), Choi Na-yeon (28), Lee Jung-min (23), and Ko Jin-young (20) are also seeking to win the title. If a Korean golfer wins the title, Koreans will achieve the most LPGA wins (12) that are acquired in a single season.