Cherry Hills Village – Unable to repeat her spectacular 2004 season because of a bad back, Grace Park felt good enough entering the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open that, upon seeing a reporter early Monday morning, she faked a seizure before breaking into giggles.
A little more than two hours later though, the laughter subsided. Park suffered an injury on the 11th hole.
“My stress level has increased to 100 percent,” Park said afterward. “I was fine. I was at an ultimate high.”
Park injured her upper back Monday. She said she hit her drive on No. 11 into the rough, teed up another ball and while walking toward it felt pain. Her problems throughout this season have been with her lower back. The winner of the first major of 2004, the Kraft-Nabisco Championship, Park added another title at the CJ Nine Bridges Classic later in the year. She was awarded the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average on tour, 69.99.
However, Park has struggled this year dealing with her back. She first injured it while opening a car door during a tournament in Phoenix in March, where she withdrew before the final round. That almost kept her from defending her title at the Kraft-Nabisco. She decided to play at the last minute and tied for fifth. At the major preceding the Open, the LPGA Championship, Park withdrew early in the second round.
On Monday morning, there was a rumor Park would once again be forced to withdraw this week. Park sounded hopeful of playing. By late in the day, she was headed for a therapy session with, she estimated, the sixth specialist she has seen this season.
“I think ‘frustrating’ is the word I would use to describe this year,” Park said.
Where’s everybody?
In an un-Open-like setting, the driving range at Cherry Hills was empty for much of the morning. .
A charter flight carrying more than 100 players and caddies from Rochester, N.Y., last week’s LPGA tour stop, to Denver was delayed for four hours Sunday night. It didn’t arrive until after 1 a.m. Monday.
“First the problem was that the plane was overweight, imagine that,” Wendy Ward joked. “Then there was a hydraulic leak. Everyone felt they should take care of that.”
Ward, who tied for 55th in Rochester, didn’t arrive at the home she’s staying in this week until 3:30 a.m.
“Luckily, he’s a doctor,” Ward said. “He said he’s used to being woken up in the middle of the night.”
Not surprisingly, one player who didn’t have any trouble drawing a crowd was Michelle Wie. The 15-year-old from Hawaii teed off a little after 8 a.m. from the 10th tee. By the time she made the turn at about 10:30 a.m., there were hundreds of fans following her.
Footnote
Players were called off the course at about 4:30 p.m. because of lightning. Although many players tried to wait out the threatening skies, they never returned to the course. They will resume practice rounds at 7 a.m. today.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
