Michelob Light Open 2003: Golf is like a rollercoaster, baby

During the trophy presentation at the inaugural Michelob Light Open at Kingsmill, the presenter asked Grace Park what had allowed her to keep her composure after her difficult start. She leaned conspiratorially into the mike and replied, 'it's a secret!'. The audience had a good laugh at that.

How does a star like Grace keep her composure in the heat of battle? What motivates her to keep trying hard despite all the pressure? During the same awards presentation, at least one theory was presented. A representative of Michelob revealed that Grace had come up to the man who runs Anheuser Busch before the third round and asked if she would win a year's supply of beer if she won the tournament. He replied that she would. So the representative then produced a bottle of cold beer and opened it, offering it to Grace. Grace took a big, deep gulp, while the audience went nuts. Not a polite sip, but a hearty swig! Grace obviously appreciates a good brew!

Grace hitches a ride during a practice round
Daily Press/Adrin Snider

Grace at the Safeway/Ping in March

Grace had another explanation for her motivation earlier in the week. When asked why golf has become so popular in Korea, she replied, "Young kids are seeing Se Ri, Mi Hyun and myself too, hopefully, and they look forward to becoming famous and rich and popular." The reporter then asked her if she was looking forward to those things, and Grace remarked, "Yes, that would be nice. I look forward to being rich."

But though Grace may be motivated in part by fame, by money or even by beer, there is a simpler explanation for her excellence. Put simply, she is motivated to be the best. She wants to be the number one player, not just in Korea but in the world. She believes she has the ability, the drive and the mind to do it. And judging by her performance at the Michelob Light Open, she may not be so far away from achieving her goal.

Coming into this event, Grace had had a very up and down year. She started with a bang in Tucson, only a few hours drive away from where she grew up and went to college. The course there was playing almost ridiculously easy, and players were shooting low rounds in record numbers. Grace hung in there, though, and as the weekend arrived and the conditions toughened, she was able to rise to near the top of the leaderboard, eventually finishing fourth. The next week, playing in her hometown, she threw an incredible Sunday run at the field, only to be defeated by her amazing countrywoman Se Ri Pak and a 45 foot par save for the ages.

And then the bad stuff started. Coming off two top four finishes, Grace had to be feeling extremely confident heading into the year's first Major. But instead, she had a horrible misstep and missed her first cut of the year. At the next event a couple of weeks later, she got off to a miserable start but played better on the weekend, managing a respectable 25th. But then the rollercoaster went down again, and she finished 62nd in Las Vegas. After that, though, she put together two good rounds in Atlanta to notch her first top ten in more than a month. Finally she seemed to be on the right track again, as long as the rollercoaster did not take another sudden dive.

It should come as no surprise, given the theme of her season, that her first round was a rollercoaster ride. Paired with Janice Moodie and Soo-Yun Kang, Grace certainly should have felt comfortable. But almost from the start, things were crazy. How's this for a front nine: birdie, bogey, birdie, par, birdie, bogey, eagle, double bogey, par? It's not often you see someone get an eagle followed by a double bogey. Yet despite all the craziness, she was actually under par at the turn. On the back nine, she settled down, and notched three more birdies to shoot a 4 under par 67 on the par 71 course. This was good enough to put her one shot out of the lead in fourth place, tied with fellow Korean star Hee-Won Han.