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Inbee Park making injury progress ahead of HSBC Champions defence

By Ali Stafford

Wednesday 2 March 2016 14:11, UK

Inbee Park of South Korea plays a shot during day one of the 2016 Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club on February

Inbee Park believes she is closing in on a return to fitness ahead of her meeting with world No 1 Lydia Ko at the HSBC Women's Champions.

Park went bogey-free over 72 holes in Singapore last year to see claim a two-stroke victory ahead of Ko, the first of five victories during 2015.

The South Korean has since struggled for consistency since picking up a back injury, having to withdraw from the Bahamas LPGA Classic and finishing in a tie for 30th on her return at the Honda LPGA Thailand.

Shanshan Feng, Ko and Park are all involved this week
Image: Shanshan Feng, Ko and Park are all involved this week

Although Park admits her game is still not back at 100%, she's upbeat about her chances of producing a much-improved performance at the Serapong Course.

"I feel like I'm definitely in better shape than I was last week or a month ago," Park told reporters on Wednesday. "It's just getting better and better but I just don't want to rush for anything.

"I wish I was better prepared, but I just came back to competition after about a month out with the injury.

Lewis, Ko and Park went head-to-head in the final round last year
Image: Lewis, Ko and Park went head-to-head in the final round last year

"This tournament was a lucky charm last year, so I would like to get that going this week as well. Even if I don't end up holding the trophy, I would like to take something from this tournament."

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Park tees off alongside Solheim Cup Stacy Lewis and Paula Creamer for the opening two rounds, while Ko has been grouped with Amy Lang and Ladies European Tour Order of Merit champion Shanshan Feng.

LPGA Tour Golf

Ko has made a bright start to the New Year by retaining her home NZ Women's Open title and posting top-three finishes in Australian and Florida, with the teenager now looking to continue that run this week.

"Inbee obviously played it perfectly last year," Ko said. "If you're bogey-free for 18 holes, you'd be happy but 72 holes, that's pretty impressive. She kind of set the benchmark.

(From L-R) Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko, Shanshan Feng and Inbee Park are all in action in Singapore this week
Image: (From L-R) Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko, Shanshan Feng and Inbee Park are all in action in Singapore this week

"I took a month off from golf the first part of the off-season and had a month to get back into it. Obviously it wasn't my dream finish at the Coates, but still I'll take a tied-third overall.

"I got to defend the National Open, which is a pretty cool feeling. "It's a really good start to the season, and I mean, it could always be better in that sense. But I'm very pleased with the way it started."

Watch the HSBC Women's Champions throughout the week on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.  Or watch from £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV.

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