Inbee Park hits her shot off of the 17th tee during the second round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club - South/North Course.Kelvin Kuo
Three-time defending champion Inbee Park was in danger of missing the cut Friday in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
A day after wrapping up an LPGA Hall of Fame spot, the South Korean star shot an eight-over 79 on Friday to drop to nine over and put the seven-time major champion on the verge of an early departure.
"Today's round was going all right on the front nine," Park said. "I felt like I was holding on pretty good. On the back nine I just couldn't get a rhythm with the swing and I missed a lot of shots to the right, what I have been doing in the last month or so. It was really frustrating and disappointing that I couldn't get the right swing to work. I really felt I could do it. I really thought I could play well this week and I thought I was really ready but I just wasn't."
The top 70 plus and ties will make the cut for the final two rounds, with the afternoon still on Sahalee Country Club course. Canada's Brooke Henderson, the first-round leader after a 67, was in the afternoon group.
Park has been dealing with inflammation in the tendons and ligaments around her left thumb. She shot a one-over 72 on Thursday, the round she needed to complete the 10-year requirement for the LPGA Hall of Fame. At 27, she became the youngest player to accomplish the feat.
But she made five bogeys and a double bogey on her final nine holes of the second round. Park lipped-out a par putt on the ninth hole, her last of the day, and that could be the difference in whether she makes the cut.
It would be just her fifth missed cut since the start of the 2013 season, not including any tournaments Park withdrew from early. Park said she will reconsider taking an extended break to let the thumb heal, one that could bring the Olympics into question.
"I think now, having tried three, four times with the injury, playing with the injury I kind of have to rethink and regroup," Park said. "I might need some time to really get better and be back with the confidence. I'm just going to have to sit down with my team and discuss it."
The real winner early in the second round was the towering trees of Sahalee. No player was able to make a charge in the morning, the lowest round coming from Catriona Matthew, who shot 67 and stood at one over for the tournament. She was the only player in the morning session to post a round in the 60s.
Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn, winner of her past three tournaments, was at two under for the tournament early in the second round before making three bogeys and a double bogey in a five-hole stretch. She shot 75 and sits at four over for the tournament.