“Somewhere in my heart, after I made the decision to play this week, I really believed in myself that I can do it,” said Park, whose 70 on Friday moved her two strokes clear of Lydia Ko and Gerina Piller. “If I didn’t have a trust in myself, I wouldn’t be playing this week.”
Park last played a LPGA event in early June, where she missed the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She spent the last two months rehabbing her injured thumb and focusing on the Olympics.
That resolve certainly paid off on Friday when winds whipped to 35 mph and many of the game’s best players challenged her. The most notable challenger was world No. 1 Ko, who shot the day’s best score with a 6-under 65.
“I just gave my body a good rest and I tried to gather a lot of things mentally. Tried to come here mentally and physically strong, and that’s what I did,” Park said. “I didn’t expect much of a result, but what I want to do is I want to show all the people how hard I’ve worked.”