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Inkster marches on
Posted: Monday July 03, 2000 02:05 PM
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Faced with the prospect of turning the big 4-0 this season, Juli Inkster decided she needed to start working out to keep up with young guns like Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb. So last January, she started her new plan by running a couple of miles. But after a few days of this Inkster's feet looked like most of her competition over the past couple of years: blistered.
Who needs conditioning when you have confidence? While Inkster does get a daily workout taking care of daughters Hayley and Cori, she is still living on the fumes of last season, which looked to be a storybook ending to her illustrious career. Inkster captured five events, including the LPGA Championship and the elusive U.S. Open, The icing on the cake: She qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame by winning the Safeway Championship in Portland, Ore. But by winning twice this season and recording eight top-10s in only 12 tournaments, Inkster has shown everyone that she is far from turning to part-time LPGA and full-time mom status. The truth is, Inkster just might be in the prime of her career. After a five-year dry spell, 10 of her 24 wins have come in the last 42 months. In that time span, she has recorded 46 top-10 finishes, which is more than she had in her previous eight seasons. Inkster agrees that she is just now reaching her maximum potential. "I do feel like I have played the best golf that I have ever played in that last four years," said Inkster, who already has earned $689,028 this season. "I don't see why just because I got into the Hall of Fame I shouldn't continue to play good golf. The hunger is still there and the desire and my game are still there. So I don't know why I shouldn't play well." Inkster's outlook on life might have been different had she not suffered two devastating playoff losses -- one to Dottie Pepper at the Nabisco Championship and the other Patty Sheehan at the U.S. Open -- in 1992. "She didn't want to end her career like that," said her husband, Brian Inkster. "She became even more determined and practiced even harder to erase those memories." Now Inkster is determined to continue making history. "I have put extra pressure on myself to duplicate last year," Inkster said. "I think if I get into a groove and get hot I can win three or four more times this season. I wouldn't call that unrealistic." While winning is a realistic goal every week, don't look for Inkster to sign up for the Boston Marathon or even a 5K run anytime soon. But everything else is just a walk in the park. Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, caddies for Sara Sanders on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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