SAMMAMISH, Wash. -- The many huge evergreens framing the holes at Sahalee Country Club can make golfers playing among them seem like miniatures in a diorama.
On a historic Thursday afternoon in the first round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, Inbee Park was life-size and then some.
Park's injured left thumb, supported by tape the color of a robin's egg, might have been less than 100 percent, but there was nothing wrong with her pride.
Two weeks after shooting 84 and being forced to withdraw from her last tournament -- and amid worries that her health could limit her game so much that it would be a clumsy coronation into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame -- she shot a solid, 1-over-par 72.
It wasn't the best score of Park's successful career, nor the worst. But it didn't matter what she shot as long as she finished. A completed round was all that was necessary to fulfill the Hall of Fame's bookkeeping regulations of 10 events in her 10th season.
"The experience was great, I can tell you that," Park said. "The last month for me was kind of a tough time. I didn't know if I would be able to play all 18. I feel truly blessed. My thumb and my mind and my body really held up great out there. I grinded really well. Everything really worked the way I wanted."
Park had taken care of the hard part after her five-victory 2015 season, winning the Vare Trophy to reach the Hall of Fame's 27-point requirement. At 27, she is the youngest player to qualify for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, and only Tiger Woods and Mickey Wright won seven major championships at a younger age than Park.
"She's a hell of a player," said Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, who finished her round shortly before Park. "She's had a great run. Some times, I think she doesn't get the credit she deserves. I'm very proud of her."
Park, dressed in white that has become a trademark, showed early in the round she wasn't going to struggle as she did at the Volvik LPGA Championship two weeks ago. She hit a wedge tight to set up a birdie on the par-5 second hole, and birdied the sixth to get on the leaderboard. She wasn't as sharp the rest of the way but saved par a number of times with her excellent putting, which has been a hallmark throughout her 17 career LPGA victories.
With the skies having cleared after spitting rain earlier in the cool day, Park missed the 18th green with her second shot, pitched on and two-putted for bogey. After finishing, Park raised an arm to acknowledge an appreciative gallery. There were 27 white roses and nearly as many fellow players on the green, including golfers that Park is joining in the Hall of Fame: Pat Bradley, Annika Sorenstam, Laura Davies and the South Korean who inspired many young women from her country to take up golf, Se Ri Pak.
"I was really surprised to see them," Park said of the Hall of Fame receiving line. "It felt so much more special to see those legendary players that I looked up to when I was growing up."
Pak, who is winding down her LPGA career this season, had to withdraw on the front nine because of an arm injury, relished seeing the second golfer from South Korea qualify for the Hall of Fame.
"I am very proud of her," Pak said. "It makes me think of when I qualified years ago. It really isn't easy to make the Hall of Fame, but she's done it."
The day could have played out much differently if Park's injury had hindered her more and cluttered her scorecard with big numbers. But Park, who is going for a record fourth consecutive victory in the tournament, was determined to finish the Hall of Fame puzzle this week.
"She's pretty fearless, and what she's doing today is an example of that," LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said as he waited for Park to arrive at the 17th hole. "Many players of her pedigree might not risk coming out here and having a bad round, wouldn't risk shooting an 80 in this situation. But she told me a couple of weeks ago, 'Commish, I'm hurting, but I'm playing the KPMG Women's PGA.' "
Park might be from a country whose golf success is relatively new in the scheme of the game's long history, but her on-course demeanor -- placid in good times and bad -- is a throwback to earlier low-key stars.
"It's exactly what you want in an LPGA player. She's classy. She's talented," said Whan, a high-energy personality who has enjoyed the couple of times he has been paired with Park in pro-ams. "I'm going a hundred miles an hour, and she's got a calming nature that just helps."
The worry that came with the injuries and withdrawals that came to accompany the formality of a 10th tournament appearance this season left Park on a Pacific Northwest early evening as calm as her nature. Not that she would trade any of what has happened.
"I think I get to appreciate it a lot more," Park said. "I got to realize how much love I have from people, that people really care about me. I appreciate that love and support. The road to the Hall of Fame is not easy -- was not easy for me -- so I appreciate it more."
She'll tee off Friday morning calm and proud, as usual, and for the first time, as a Hall of Famer.
