Anything You Can Do? was a song written by Irving Berlin for a Broadway musical called ?Annie Get Your Gun. It was written in 1946.
If it were composed today for the mens and womens golf tours, he might have called it Inbee Get Your 7-Iron. Instead of Ethel Merman, Bette Midler might have sung the womans part.
Inbee is Inbee Park, who is, in the estimation of most, the best womens golfer in the world. In a couple of days, shell be leaving for Scotland to continue her quest of completing the womens career Grand Slam at the female version of the British Open, at Donald Trumps links at Turnberry Resort.
Last weekend, Jordan Spieth was in Scotland at the birthplace of golf, St. Andrews, bidding to win his third Grand Slam event in one season. Shades of Bobby Jones.
When young Spieth came up one shot short, Park was watching on TV, owing to the vagaries of British Open weather.
I looked at golf yesterday because obviously we werent playing on Monday, Park, 27, said on a Tuesday conference call with a small group of golf reporters. Its always great to watch the course, the shots you hit that you remember. So it was really exciting to see mens golf on St. Andrews, and obviously Jordan Spieth came really close to winning it.?
The Texas phenom came up short when his ball did the same on the 18th hole and landed in the notorious Valley of Sin. If Park had hit a ball into the Valley of Sin in 2013, she wasnt saying.
Is there anything Spieth can do that Park can do better?
I know how hard it is to put himself in contention when theres so much pressure when hes going for the three majors in a year. I really know how that feels, said Park, who won three straight majors in 2013, with her most recent coming in the Womens PGA Championship in June.
So even if he didnt win, I thought he did a really great job of having been in contention.
The womens Grand Slam isnt nearly as prestigious as the mens. There are five womens majors, and one is called the Evian Championship, which just doesnt sound that illustrious. Not yet, anyway.
And whereas there have been 144 mens British Opens, there have been just 14 played as a major championship on the women??s side.
It??s still difficult to win four of the womens majors in ones lifetime. Only six Pat Bradley, Juli Inkster, Annika Sorenstam, Louise Suggs, Karrie Webb, Mickey Wright ?have accomplished it. At 27, it would seem Park has all kinds of time to join them.
Perhaps so. But Tiger Woods once had all kinds of time to break Jack Nicklaus record for major wins. And now he doesnt.
While six of Parks 15 tournament titles have come in majors, she really cant put a finger on why she plays so well in the big ones. She said whereas many players like to rest up before majors, she usually plays a tuneup event. Maybe thats it.
You can fix things on the golf course during a competitive round that you cant fix on the practice tee or putting green, she says.
Or maybe its just getting into rhythm during summertime, a competitive pace and routine she started developing when she and her family moved to Las Vegas from South Korea, so Park could pursue a pro career, beginning with her two years at Bishop Gorman.
Since I was a junior, my rhythm in my body is just really, really used to it in the summertime, she said. Thats where we play the most tournaments. So I think my body just got used to it.?
She also spoke of flying under the radar. Thats something you never hear Tiger Woods speak of. With Tiger, and now probably with Spieth, too, thats impossible. Sometimes when you fly above the radar, there are pressures and expectations, and then you wind up chain smoking cigarettes and wearing crazy pants like John Daly.
In speaking with Park, you dont get the impression shell wind up wearing crazy pants on a golf course. She touched on this when one of the golf writers asked about a legacy.
I dont want too much attention,?she said. I just want to live my life casually and just really enjoy my life.
Golf is what I want to do; this is what I enjoy to do. The rest of the stuff comes with it. I just try to live a happy life and the results just come. I dont try to rush for anything. I dont try to achieve anything that ...?
She didnt finish the sentence.
I dont know. I just want to live my life happily, she said with chuckle that was slight and bashful.
So next week Park will get out her 7-iron at Donald Trumps place over there in Scotland, and shell get out the other clubs, too. Shell try to hit em straight, hope the wind doesnt blow too hard and see if anybody sings at the end.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.
Ron Kantowski: Park OK winning ‘under the radar’
