The Spotlight Will Just Have to Find Her

Jane Park appreciates the quiet, so she tries to enjoy it while she can.

She’s in no hurry to join the media circus that follows teen golfer Michelle Wie and is relieved that she doesn’t have that degree of limelight.

“I’m not ready to be a superstar,” Park said.

But were it not for the exploits of other high-profile teens, she probably would be one. Her accomplishments rival -- and in some cases even surpass -- those of Wie and other well-known peers such as Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer.

Park won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship last summer, and three weeks before that was a finalist in the U.S. Girls Junior. In 2003, she was a finalist in the women’s amateur. But despite advancing to the finals of three consecutive USGA events, she lags far behind other teens in magazine covers and television time.

“It doesn’t really bother me,” Park said. “I like to just be quiet and go to the left side of the driving range and work on my game quietly.”

Park, 18, a senior at Rancho Cucamonga High, will step into the public eye beginning Thursday when she plays in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage. She received an automatic exemption with her U.S. Amateur victory.

It will be her fifth LPGA tournament. She made the cut in three of the previous four. Last year, she finished 24th at the Kraft Nabisco and 18th at the CJ Nine Bridges Classic, and missed the cut at the U.S. Open.

In 2003, when 14 teenagers qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, Park finished tied for 30th -- ahead of every teen except Aree Song. That field included Wie, Creamer and Pressel.

Even so, Park has accepted a golf scholarship from defending national champion UCLA for next season rather than follow Creamer’s lead and turn pro right out of high school.

“I’ve just always known that I wanted to go to college,” Park said. “I always thought that’s what people my age were supposed to do. I’m not as focused on golf as some other players.

“Ever since I won the Amateur, my dad always says that I should practice more because everyone is practicing harder because they want to beat me. I’m like, ‘OK, OK, Dad, just let me finish my homework.’ ”

Lately, however, Park has become curious about testing her game at a higher level, and her low profile has affected her ability to secure sponsor exemptions to LPGA events. Sponsors usually offer exemptions to well-known players they think will raise interest in their events.

Last year, Park received two -- to the Kraft Nabisco, a local tournament, and the CJ Nine Bridges, in Korea.

Wie, conversely, has sponsors knocking down her door to play LPGA events. For the last two years, Wie, now 15, accepted the LPGA limit of six exemptions before the season started.

Creamer, 18, also had no problem getting six exemptions last year. Park has sent more than a dozen letters seeking exemptions for this year, yet has been accepted only to the Canadian Open.

Terry Wilcox, the Kraft Nabisco tournament director, said others in his position usually have their hands tied when offering exemptions. Because his tournament is a major, he is allowed to offer up to six spots. Regular LPGA events can offer two at most.

“It’s hard to give those to amateurs,” Wilcox said. “Especially if you’ve already given one to Michelle Wie. I don’t think they see Jane as quite in the Michelle Wie class, even though you would have to put her among the top amateurs in the country.”

Park has a few theories about her relative anonymity. First off, she doesn’t stand out in a crowd like the 6-foot Wie, who hits 300-yard drives. Park is 5 feet 5, hits an average of about 260, and has a reserved, down-to-earth demeanor.

“Maybe I should add some spunk to my personality,” she joked.

Park also gets away from golf sometimes. Creamer enrolled at a golf academy for high school and traveled the country playing tournaments year round. Park attends a public school and singles out specific events, playing only five or six tournaments a year.

Her ethnicity, Park said, also plays a part. Though born and raised in the U.S., she comes from a Korean family and often runs into fans and reporters who automatically group her among the wave of young Korean women playing golf in the U.S.

That Park is progressing on her own terms was something that impressed UCLA Coach Carrie Forsyth.

“There are so many players out there in a hurry to make it to the pros,” Forsyth said. “Jane just always knew in her heart that she wanted to go to college, and she didn’t change that because everyone else was skipping it.”

Park has laid out several goals for the next year and says that if she reaches or exceeds them, she will consider leaving college early.

First, she wants to successfully defend her U.S. Amateur title. Second, she wants to improve on her finishes in the Kraft Nabisco and U.S. Open. Third, she wants to get a few sponsor exemptions and finish in the top 10 in an LPGA event.

If she does all that, she’ll have a new goal.

“To get my name more known,” she said.

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*--* LPGA Tour * What: Kraft Nabisco Championship. * When: Thursday through Sunday. * Where: Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore Tournament Course), Rancho Mirage. * 2004 champion: Grace Park.

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