Inbee Park May Be Done for the Season

The second round of the Blue Bay LPGA event is underway as I'm writing this, but Inbee Park is no longer in the field. And it's entirely possible that we may not see her for the rest of the season, as there are only three more events after this one.



According to GC, Inbee withdrew from the event after the first round:

Park withdrew Thursday night after shooting a 75 in the first round and complaining of pain in the middle finger of her left hand. She told LPGA staff that she has been dealing with a cyst on the finger for about three weeks, and she is unsure when she will be able to tee it up again.

We've already seen how a cyst can disrupt a player's season. Azahara Munoz had to have a cyst removed from her hand earlier this season. She missed roughly a month and a half during March and April recovering from surgery. And Lydia Ko had a cyst removed back in 2014, sidelining her for around the same amount of time.

While Inbee certainly hasn't said anything about surgery at this point -- and some cysts can be effectively treated with antibiotics, among other possibilities -- the LPGA season will end in three weeks. That doesn't leave much time for any sort of treatment to take effect.

Before the Blue Bay LPGA began, the talk was about the battle for World #1 between Inbee and Lydia. Even after the first round, the LPGA was already projecting what Inbee needed to do if she wanted to regain the title this week.

But now that's all just talk. Until we hear exactly what Inbee intends to do about this cyst, it looks like Lydia is firmly entrenched at World #1 and Inbee may start to fall down the rankings from lack of play.

In the meantime, let's all just wish Inbee a quick recovery.