[Yonhap Photo]
South Korea's four-member female golf squad to compete in next month's Olympics in Brazil has been finalized, including LPGA's career grand slammer Park In-bee.
The qualification to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro is based on world rankings as of Monday with a total of 60 players from each gender's event. The top 15 players from each gender are qualified, with a limit of four golfers per country.
South Korea now has six inside the top 15. The four female golfers who will represent South Korea are all ranked in the top ten, including Park (3rd), Kim Sei-Young (5th), Amy Yang (6th), and Chun In-gee (8th).
Jang Ha-na (10th) and Ryu So-yeon (12th) could not join the team because the two did not do well enough in the US Women's Open to overtake other players.
Since the Olympic squad is formed of the highest rankers, many fans hold high expectations on their performance which experts believe depends on how fast Park will recover her pace.
Park, who has suffered from back and finger injuries all season with no trophies, decided to join the squad at the last moment. She had even considered conceding her Olympic spot to another player.
Through her agency, Pak Seri, the LPGA Hall of Famer who will coach the Olympic squad, issued a statement welcomed Park In-bee's decision saying it would be a psychological boost to her colleagues. "I feel comfortable with her presence that will boost the spirit of our team."
Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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