Park’s Entrance Is Disappointing

Jin Park--who muddled through mediocre play last year and splashed through puddles on Tuesday--was almost too angry with himself to revel in the moment.

Park, at 16 one of the youngest players ever to qualify for the Nissan Open, shot eight-over-par 79 in the first round Thursday at Riviera Country Club, leaving him far off the pace and unlikely to make the cut. When he finished late Thursday, Park, a junior at Sunny Hills, wasn’t ready to celebrate his first PGA tournament.

“I really expected to do better,” said Park, one of two amateurs to qualify. “I was going to come out here, play well and make the cut. Maybe I expected too much.”

Maybe, but in days to come it might seem different.

“Yeah, when it’s all over, then it will sink in what I’ve done,” said Park, who was born in Seoul.

His accomplishment was evident throughout the day Thursday, even if Park failed to notice. About 60 family and friends followed Park through the round.

Mingling with his entourage were reporters from Korean-language newspapers, cameramen from Korean-language television stations and three correspondents from Seoul. They interviewed his father, his mother and his 20-year-old sister.

When Park finished, they converged on him, asking questions and requesting poses for photographs.

“All we’ve had is [Dodger pitcher] Chan Ho Park,” said Jonathan Heo, assistant editor of the Korea Central Daily in Los Angeles. “Now we have something else to write about.”

The attention may be long overdue.

Park has been a phenomenon almost since the day his family moved from Korea eight years ago. He began playing at 6, after tagging along with his father to courses in Korea. Park was soon playing in youth tournaments.

“He was so small, he had to use ladies’ clubs in his first tournament and they were still almost as big as he was,” said Mihael Park, his mother.

No matter his size, Park could play. In fact, his family moved to the United States to help Park’s golf game.

“Korea doesn’t have many golf courses, mostly practice courses and driving ranges,” said Kyo Park, his father. “We had to come here for him to improve.”

He did.

Park twice shot 64 when he was 12 and won back-to-back Junior World Championships when he was 11 and 12. At 14, he won the Long Beach match-play championship, becoming the youngest winner in the event’s 70-year history.

Park also helped Sunny Hills win the Southern Section team championship as a freshman.

“People shouldn’t be going, ‘Oh wow, who is this kid?’ ” said Bobby Lasken, his private coach. “Any 12-year-old who shoots a 64 should get noticed.”

But Park’s success tapered off last year, despite the five to six hours he plays each day. He didn’t win a tournament for the first time since he began playing.

“I couldn’t get my game right,” Park said. “If my putting was on, my shots were off. If my shots were on, my putting was off. Nothing clicked.”

Park changed coaches, going to Lasken this year, which has helped. “He was coming too far back on his swing,” Lasken said. “It was something we were going to work on down the line. Then he shot a 69 at a San Diego Open [Buick Invitational] qualifying match a couple weeks ago. So we went to work.”

Park, who was one stroke off qualifying for the Buick Invitational, shot a 68 Friday at Western Hills Country Club in Chino Hills to get into the Nissan Open. Bob May (1987) and Ted Oh (1991) are the only other 16-year-olds to qualify for the event. Tiger Woods also was 16 in 1990 when he received a sponsor’s exemption into the tournament.

Park, who had never played Riviera, arranged a practice round with two-time defending champion Corey Pavin on Tuesday. Then the rains came.

Pavin skipped the round. Park met him later in the locker room, but only after playing for three hours.

“I was soaked,” Park said. “When I was finished, the superintendent said, ‘You’re crazy, kid.’ I just blew him off. I needed to play the course once.”

That seemed to be enough early Thursday. Park was one-under through five holes but then began to have troubles with his drives. He faded on the back nine, making a bogey on 13, double-bogey on 14 and bogey on 15.

“I’ll be back here tomorrow and we’ll have to put today behind me,” Park said. “I’ll have to play my best.”