▲ South Korean LPGA Tour golfer Park Sung-hyun speaks at a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 9, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ South Korean LPGA Tour golfer Park Sung-hyun smiles at a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 9, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ South Korean LPGA Tour golfer Park Sung-hyun poses before the start of a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 9, 2023. (Yonhap)

LPGA-golfer

After protracted slump, LPGA veteran Park Sung-hyun eyes 3 wins in 2023

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- Trying to snap a slump that has stretched for three seasons, South Korean LPGA veteran Park Sung-hyun said Monday she has set her sights on winning multiple titles in 2023.

"I was playing so well toward the end of last season that I was disappointed the season had to end when it did," Park said at a press conference following a corporate appearance in Seoul. "This year, I am going to try to hit the ground running from the beginning. My goal is to win three titles, including a major championship."

Park, a former Korean tour star, burst onto the LPGA scene in 2017, winning both the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, on the strength of her maiden major win at the U.S. Women's Open and another tour victory.

Park won three titles in 2018, including another major at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. She followed that up with a two-win campaign in 2019, and the sky seemed to be the limit for the then world No. 1.

However, a nagging shoulder injury and the COVID-19 pandemic conspired to throw Park off her game, starting in 2020.

Park missed two cuts and didn't have any top-10 finish in seven starts in a pandemic-shortened 2020 season. In 2021, Park missed the cut 10 times out of 19 tournaments.

She played in 18 tournaments in 2022 and missed the cut eight times, though she showed flashes of greatness in domestic and LPGA events late in the year.

Park has dropped all the way down to No. 200 in the world rankings, after being just outside the top 100 at the start of 2022.

Reflecting on the trying three-year period, Park said, "It has been an important learning experience for me, and I think it has made me tougher.

"I was happy with the way I played in my first three years in the U.S. but then it was just a string of one difficult thing after another," Park said. "I had to keep telling myself that I wasn't going to have good things happen to me all the time. It has been difficult but in the end, I've had a good run so far."

Her last LPGA title came in June 2019, and Park said she is determined to end that drought this year.

"I've been working hard on my conditioning, so that I won't be exhausted late in the season," Park said. "I've been working out three to four hours a day to get myself into shape."

Park, who will turn 30 in September, quipped, "Now that I am entering my 30s, I'll have to stop being a baby and start approaching this game with a mature mindset."

(END)

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