PHOENIX – Can you absorb confidence?
Is there such a thing as osmosis in golf?
Sung Hyun Park thinks so.
After winning the HSBC Women’s World Championship a month ago, Park said meeting Tiger Woods for the first time fueled her.
She left their TaylorMade TV shoot together in February with some mojo.
“If Tiger is watching this interview, then I would want to say that because we met, you gave me such good energy, that made me win the tournament,” she said after hoisting the trophy.
A week later, Park won again, taking the trophy at The Country Club Ladies Invitational in the Philippines, a Taiwan LPGA event.
This week she’s going for her third victory in three consecutive starts at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup.
With a 6-under-par 66 Friday, Park moved into a tie for the lead with China’s Yu Liu, a former Duke University standout looking for her first LPGA title.
Park moved back to Rolex world No. 1 with her victory in Singapore. She’s off to the fastest start of her career. Before this year, she had never won before the month of June in any given season.
Could one day spent with Woods really be fueling all of this?
Park, 25, said her offseason practice regime wasn’t much different than it has been in years past. She said she hit the gym harder and worked out more, but that’s about it.
The Tiger TV shoot came before she made her first start of the year.
David Jones, Park’s caddie, said it wasn’t just the Tiger meeting that helped his player. There was something gained hitting balls alongside Woods on the driving range as they warmed up for the TV spot.
“I can’t imagine we will get many occasions where she will actually be more intimidated than standing there hitting balls next to Tiger,” Jones said. “There probably isn’t, where you can draw on things like that.”
Full-field scores from the Bank of Hope Founders Cup
Park may play with a steely gaze, but she hasn’t hidden the fact that she still battles nerves, even with six LPGA titles, including two majors, and 10 Korean LPGA Tour titles.
A day hitting shots under the watchful eye of Tiger Woods might have been the best kind of preparation Park could have taken into the start of this season, and the best kind of preparation for playing under pressure.
Park’s HSBC victory marked the earliest she has ever won in the professional ranks.
Those two titles have given Park more than confidence to take into the year’s first major, the ANA Inspiration in two weeks.
“It makes me comfortable,” Park said.
That’s exactly the word Jones used to describe the maturing Park, who is beginning her third LPGA season.
“She’s just more comfortable, more comfortable with her game, more comfortable being out here, more comfortable being a top player,” he said. “I think that’s the key.”
Jones says it’s visible.
“She just looks more at ease,” he said.
This applies to her return to world No. 1.
The first time Park moved into the top spot, late in 2017, she was there a week. The second time she got there, after winning in Indianapolis last summer, she held the ranking for 10 weeks. She’s in her third week atop the rankings in this latest return.
“It’s being comfortable again,” Jones said. “It becomes more normal. You know what to expect. You know how to handle it better.”
Park is making her third start at the Founders Cup. She tied for 49th last year, tied for 13th two years ago.
While she prefers tough setups, she’s looking up to the challenge that Wildfire Golf Club offers, where it’s birdies or bust. She made seven birdies Friday to take sole possession of the lead before a bogey at the last dropped her into a tie for the lead.
“I like the difficult course better,” Park said “[But] I really feel comfortable.”
She might be thanking Tiger for that again at week’s end.