South Korean golfer Park In-bee said on Thursday she will "give it everything" at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games as she enters her final tune-up event before traveling to Brazil.

Park will compete at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters, a Korean LPGA (KLPGA) event, from Friday to Sunday at Ora Country Club on Jeju Island. This is her first golf tournament since the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in June after she was sidelined due to a thumb injury.

Park said there is still pain, but it isn't as serious as before. The former world No. 1 golfer added her physical fitness is about 80 percent ready.

"After a month-long rehab, I'm feeling good," Park said at a press meeting. "I have no problem playing an 18-hole round."

Park previously hinted at pulling out of the Rio Games because of her injury, but she announced in July that she will compete at the Rio Olympics, where golf will be contested for the first time in 112 years.

"It's true that I'm on a thorny path," she said. "But I want to get through and repay fans for their support. I want to give it my all (at the Olympics)."

Park will represent South Korea in the women's Olympic golf tournament along with Kim Sei-young, Amy Yang and Chun In-gee. They were selected based on their world rankings as of July 11.

All four players are LPGA winners, but Park, 28, leads the way with 17 wins and seven majors. The Rio Olympics starts on Friday (local time) and the women's competition, a 72-hole stroke play, will start on Aug. 17.

"Although Olympic golf isn't a team competition, I had lot of opportunities to talk with them," she said. "Kim is doing well this season with confidence and Chun is a player who shows consistency in her performance. Yang is also a reliable golfer because she is calm and steady."

Park, a LPGA Tour Hall of Fame inductee, mentioned world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, who have four LPGA Tour wins this season including the Women's British Open last weekend, and Brooke Henderson of Canada as threats to South Korean golfers in Rio.

"If not me, I want one of my South Korean teammates to win the gold medal in Rio," she said. "I haven't prepared something special for the Olympics. I just focused on regaining my form."

Park said she has been practicing at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon before coming to Jeju, adding that she had carded a five-under in a practice round there. At the Jeju Samdasoo Masters, Park said she will check on her swing and will try to gain confidence by showing a good performance.

Park will depart for Brazil next Thursday.

"I don't really worry about my putting and approach shots," she said. "What I'm trying to do is, I want to find my natural swing even though my body feels pain because of the injury."

Park said she will travel to Rio with her mother and her husband Nam Ki-hyup, who is also her coach. Although there are fears of the Zika virus, crime and even crocodiles on the Olympic golf course, Park said she only worries about one thing: her physical condition.

"I haven't really thought about those problems because that's just small things compare to my goals," she said. "I think I'll just have to be careful about those problems and I believe rest will be taken care by the International Olympic Committee and other officials."





By Yonhap News