SOUTHAMPTON — It is very difficult to look beyond South Korea's Park Inbee as a likely winner of this week's US Women's Open in Sebonack, New York, where the world No. 1 will be bidding to clinch her third major crown of the year. Inbee has dominated the women's game this season, triumphing five times on the US LPGA Tour, and she will tee off in Thursday's opening round at Sebonack Country Club fresh from victory at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Sunday. “I've played very good golf the last two or three months,” Inbee, 24, told reporters at Sebonack Tuesday while preparing for the third women's major of the year. “Everything's going the way I really want it to. “This is the best I'm playing in my career so far, and I'm trying to keep this going.” Inbee, who won last month's LPGA Championship at Locust Hill where she beat Briton Catriona Matthew in a three-hole sudden death playoff, is aiming to become only the fourth player to claim three LPGA majors in a single season. Asked if she felt any extra pressure coming into this week, Inbee replied: “I've had a lot of wins this year and that's definitely taken a lot of pressure off of me.” Inbee, who at 19 became the youngest ever winner of the US Women's Open with a four-shot victory in the 2008 edition at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota, triumphed twice on the 2012 LPGA Tour. This year, she has been virtually unstoppable, landing five titles in 12 starts on the circuit after dramatically improving her driving accuracy and the precision of her long game. “I was having a lot of trouble with my tee shot, missing it right with push-type of balls,” said Inbee, an eight-time champion on the LPGA Tour. “But I fixed that a lot and I am able to hit a lot more fairways.” American world No. 2 Stacy Lewis, who was replaced at the top of the rankings by Inbee earlier this year, has been hugely impressed by the Korean's consistency. “For the players, it's frustrating to see someone sit there and win week after week after week,” said the 28-year-old Lewis, who won her only major title at the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship. “But she's making good putts and she's steady.” Situated on Peconic Bay in eastern Long Island, Sebonack Country Club will tease the players off the tee this week with its wide fairways before taunting them with its tricky greens and, most likely, tough pin positions. “It's a second-shot golf course, which I think suits my game pretty well,” said Lewis, a double winner on the 2013 LPGA Tour. “You don't have to drive it perfect off the tees, but you've got to play smart into the greens.” — Reuters
