'20th Career Win' Park In-bee "I Feel More at Ease"

Escaping the 'Ahopsu' with Enchanted Putting: "Laying the Foundation for an Olympic Ticket"

Park In-bee is smiling brightly during an interview immediately after winning the ISPS Handa Australian Women's Open. Adelaide, Australia = Photo by Getty Images/Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter Noo Rae] "Now I feel at ease."

A smile appeared on the face of Park In-bee (32, KB Financial Group), the "silent assassin." This was right after her 3-stroke victory at the 4th event of the 2020 LPGA Tour, the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open (total prize money $1.3 million), held at Royal Adelaide Golf Club in Adelaide, Australia on the 16th. It was her 20th career win, her first in 1 year and 11 months since winning the Founders Cup in March 2018. She cheered, "First of all, the win came early in the season. I'm so happy to have a good result in February."

She has been putting in effort since the beginning of the year to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics in August. She needs to steadily accumulate points by the end of June to be ranked within the top 15 in the world and be the fourth among Korean players. As of the 17th, she is ranked 17th in the world. Above all, it is pleasing that her main weapon, putting, has revived. Over four rounds at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, she had 28 putts. Especially in the 1st and 3rd rounds, she recorded only 26 putts, using this "stingy putting" as the driving force for her victory.

"I suffered a lot mentally because of putting for two years," said Park In-bee, explaining, "This week, my putting was very good. The distance control and reading the line all came together perfectly." With this tournament win, she became the 28th player to reach 20 career wins. She is the second Korean player to do so after Park Se-ri (43). She added, "Because it was a win I waited for nearly two years, the joy is even greater. The 20 wins in 2020 feel like everything is just falling perfectly into place."

She needs to work even harder to achieve a second consecutive Olympic gold. "Regarding the Olympics, I try not to put too much pressure on myself," said Park In-bee. "I will do my best to play well and qualify for the Olympics. I want to have another good experience at the Tokyo Olympics." She added, "For about a month, I plan to go back and forth between Korea and the U.S. to replenish my stamina and work on my weaknesses." She will compete in the Founders Cup on the 19th of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.