Park pleased atop rankings after strong start to season

ROGERS - Inbee Park enjoys the view from the top of the mountain and has no plans to come down off the peak anytime soon.

The 24-year-old South Korean is on quite a hot streak on the LPGA Tour.

Park has ascended to the No. 1 spot in the Rolex World Rankings after four victories this year, including victories in the tour’s first two majors of the season. Now that she’s there, staying in front of the pack remains a week-by-week goal.

“I usually didn’t have to do any pre-tournament press conferences or anything like that leading up to the tournament,” Park said Wednesday. “Now, before the round and during the round, I get to do a lot more interviews, and I have a lot of requests from Korea. So a lot of people want to talk to me and it’s good.

“I get to be more recognized, and I get to enjoy it more and get more fans and have a lot more people cheering for me. I think that’s big for me.”

Two weeks ago, Park’s top ranking was solidified when she won her second consecutive major of the season and the third of her career with a sudden-death victory over Catriona Matthew at the LPGA Championship in Pittsford, NY.

Next weekend, she’ll attempt to become the seventh player in tour history to win the first three majors of a season when she plays in the U.S. Women’s Open at Southampton, N.Y.

But first Park’s focus is on this week’s Wal-Mart NW Arkansas Championship, where she’s enjoyed a good deal of success in the past.

She finished tied for fourth at Pinnacle Country Club in last year’s tournament and had top-10 finishes at the event in 2008 and 2010.

“I really like this golf course, especially the back nine,” Park said. “You have to think your way around this golf course, and I’ve been very successful on this golf course and came very close to winning. So I feel very comfortable on this golf course.”

While Park is the world’s top-ranked player, it remains to be seen if her recent run develops into becoming one of the LPGA’s top players of all time.

Despite six top-10 finishes, four wins and two major victories already this year, Park is still relatively new to the top-ranked spot, taking over the No. 1 position from former Arkansas All-American Stacy Lewis in mid-April.

“I don’t know if I can talk about Inbee yet because it’s sort of happening as we speak,” LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said. “I can tell when it happened with Yani [Tseng], it was big-time. Not only did she get the world to kind of wake up, but she got the U.S. to wake up to women’s golf, too.

“Yani was doing things other golfers, male or female, hadn’t done by that age, so the LPGA was impossible to ignore. When a young player has a breakout year, everybody pays attention. And if Inbee goes and wins the U.S. Open and wins our first three majors, it’s going to be a big golf story. Not just a big female golf story.”

Park credits a change in her follow-through for her improved play over the past two seasons. She might still be a ways from matching Tseng’s dominant stretch at the top of the tour, however.

But with three majors to her credit - she won her first as a 19-year-old at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open - and a hot streak on the course, striving to be the next great on the LPGA Tour is worth considering.

“I think the world No. 1 spot is a lot of pressure,” Park said. “After I took over the world No. 1 spot in Hawaii this year, I didn’t know how long I would be there. I just tried to do my best every week, and I just thought I was fortunate to be playing for No. 1 every week.

“The No. 1 spot is a special spot, and I’m just going to try to enjoy it as much as I can.” Inbee Park galnce AGE 24 HOMETOWN Seoul, South Korea CAREER EARNINGS $6.4 million NOTABLE Became the No. 1 player in the Rolex World Rankings in April. ... Has six top-10 finishes and four victories this year. ... Has won the first two majors of the season, winning Kraft Nabisco Championship on April 7 and the LPGA Championship on June 9. ... The leading money winner on tour in 2012, she again stands atop of the money list with $1,221,827 this year. ... Won her first major at age of 19 at the 2008 U.S.

Women’s Open.

Sports, Pages 20 on 06/20/2013

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