Park In-bi "Marching Toward Olympic Back-to-Back Wins"... What About the Heatwave?

Tokyo Olympic Battleground Kasumigaseki Golf Course Faces Consecutive 35°C Scorching Heat, Lydia Ko Clashes with Feng Shanshan on Opening Day

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "War against the heatwave."

A variable called "scorching heat" has appeared in the path of 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist Park In-bee's (33, KB Financial Group, photo) march to victory at the Tokyo Olympics. On the 2nd, when players went out for practice rounds, the Kasumigaseki Golf Club (par 71, 6,648 yards) in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, recorded 35 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature on the 4th, when the first round takes place, is expected to be 35 degrees, and the second round is also forecasted at 34 degrees. The third round will drop to around 25 degrees but with rain expected. In other words, bad weather continues.

Park In-bee also said, "I had planned to practice 18 holes a day, but I think my condition might drop during the actual competition, so I decided to reduce it to 9 holes and focus on maintaining my stamina," adding, "For now, I am satisfied that I have no injuries compared to five years ago at the Rio Olympics." Regarding the fierce battleground Kasumigaseki, she analyzed, "The course is longer than at the Rio Olympics, and the greens are firm," and "The rough is relatively long, so above all, the short game is important."

It is interesting that Park In-bee will face off against Rio medalists such as Lydia Ko (New Zealand) and Feng Shanshan (China) from the first day. She tees off at 8:41 a.m. on the 4th from the 1st hole. World No. 2 Ko Jin-young (26) will compete against No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA). Korda rose to No. 1 after winning the KPMG Women's PGA Championship last June. Kim Sei-young (28, Mediheal) will play alongside Danielle Kang (USA) and Hannah Green (Australia), while Kim Hyo-joo (26, Lotte) will be paired with Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) and Carlota Ciganda (Spain).