ST. ANDREWS -- Inbee Park caught bad end of the draw at St. Andrews, made worse by not having her best golf. Before she can think about a chance to make history as the first golfer to win four professional majors in the same season, Park faced a more immediate concern Friday afternoon in the Womens British Open -- how to make up an eight-shot deficit against Na Yeon Choi. "Im so far back," Park said after a birdie on the final hole to salvage a 1-over 73. "We need some tough conditions." The last time there was talk about a Grand Slam in this area of Scotland was 11 years ago, across the Firth of Forth at Muirfield, where Tiger Woods was going for the third leg of the slam. A nasty storm that arrived without warning blew him off course to an 81 in the third round and that was the end of it. This wind at St. Andrews was the strongest of the week, though nothing out of the ordinary. Na Yeon Choi played four groups behind Park and turned in a command performance, making six birdies for a 5-under 67 that gave her a one-shot lead over Miki Saiki of Japan going into the weekend. Saiki set the Old Course record for the Womens British Open with a 66 in the morning, where the only nuisance was a few bursts of showers. Chois 67 was 8.4 shots better than the average score of those who played in the afternoon, and one of only three rounds in the 60s. Conditions were so demanding that when Choi was asked to give details of her six birdies, she couldnt recall much further back than the 17th hole. "Five hours out there, this kind of weather, its hard to remember," she said. Its a round Park would like to forget, one that will make her quest even more difficult to add to her trio of majors this year. "A little bit of everything wasnt working well out there today," Park said. "I dont feel like I played horrible today. A little bit unlucky with the draw, not playing in the morning when its lovely. But thats the way it is." Her problems started on the opening hole, when her approach over the Swilcan Burn rode the wind and bounced beyond the green some 50 feet from the flag. Her chip only got halfway there, and she two-putted for bogey. Park was never under par at any point in her round. A birdie on the sixth was offset by a three-putt bogey on the 10th. A birdie on the 12th was followed by a bogey on the 13th, in part due to a bad break. On the toughest driving hole on the back nine, Park hit her best tee shot -- only for it to roll into a sand-filled divot. Her approach came up just short of the green, and she hit putter down the slope and 10 feet past the cup. Her approach to the 17th ran up the left side of the Road Hole Bunker and left her about 60 feet, and she hit another poor lag -- short and 8 feet to the right -- leading to her second three-putt of the round, and fourth of the tournament. At least she still had 36 holes -- and plenty of hope -- remaining to get back in the race. It was tough for everyone in the afternoon -- except for Choi, who had a score that looked as if she were on the New Course -- and Park isnt ruling herself out. Neither is anyone else. "The tough, gritty players can win this," Stacy Lewis said after a hard-fought 72 left her five shots behind. "Anybody under par is not out of this." Morgan Pressel took another step toward locking up a spot on the Solheim Cup team with a 70 in the morning, leaving her two shots out of the lead. She now can think squarely about the Womens British Open, and perhaps adding a second major to the Kraft Nabisco Championship she won in 2007 as an 18-year-old. Nicole Castrale, also making a last-ditch effort to make the Solheim Cup team, shot 34 on the tough back nine for a 70 and was in the group at 7-under 137 that included Jee Young Lee and Suzann Pettersen. Choi is a former U.S. Womens Open champion, so she has proved she can handle difficult conditions. What helped was having her entire team with her this week -- notably her Irish coach, Robin Symes, and his friend, who is working as a caddie. Her game management coaches, Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott, also are at St. Andrews. She had to handle the blustery wind by herself. "I had a daily goal, so I just tried to stick with the goal," Choi said. "It could be like par is 74 or 75 today. But I didnt care -- par 3, par 4, par 5, doesnt matter to me. I just try to play one shot at a time, and I think thats why I had great results." Even as the second round was finishing, it was clear this was a special round. Birdies were mainly available on the outward nine, and it was all about hanging on from the 12th through the 17th holes. Choi hit a 3-hybrid off the tee on the 16th and a 3-wood into the green, and she hit driver and 3-wood to finish just short of the 17th green in two. From about 45 yards, she putted the ball to 3 feet for a tough par. Park spoke about having nerves before she teed off Thursday. She conceded after the second round she felt the pressure of this historic chance when she first arrived at St. Andrews. She didnt see it as a burden, but an opportunity, saying that no matter what happens this week, it would teach her to handle any situation the rest of her career. "When you experience something big like this, some kind of big pressure like this, youre just really not afraid of any kind of pressure," Park said. "How can it get bigger than this? Anything is going to be less than this." After making birdie on the 18th, she did an interview with ESPN and then Golf Channel. After that, she stopped for a group of Korean TV reporters, who shouted instructions on where she should stand and to the two employees holding microphones. When she spoke to 10 reporters afterward, someone asked if she imagined having so much media gathered around her to ask so many questions. "Well, this is pretty much the only week Im going to get that much, so I should enjoy this moment," Park said. jerseys nfl wholesale . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. cheap adidas nhl jerseys . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. http://www.wholesalejerseyscheapchina.net/ . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. wholesale cheap jerseys . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. jerseys china . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games. Mike Smith was sitting in racetrack traffic while leaving Saratoga last Sunday evening when he glanced over to notice a horse walking along the other side of the security fence on its way back to the stables from the test barn.Im sure some people knew it was her, Smith said. At least the ones who really follow racing. Sitting there in the car, I got to see her walk all the way along the fence, and she looked great, man. Recovered quick. Her ears were up, really alert.She is Songbird -- who else? -- and because Smith was trying to make a flight back to the West Coast, he had to miss his usual post-race visit with his favorite filly, during which carrots and candies are offered in tribute. Still, it was enough that he got to see her in the flesh, even from a moving vehicle, since she had just experienced the toughest race of her perfect nine-race career. When that happens with most horses, you just never know.As Songbirds only rider in a journey that began a year ago, Smith is rarely surprised yet always amazed. Amazed by her old-soul demeanor, her professionalism beyond her years, her endless series of gears that were put to good use in the Coaching Club American Oaks to deal with the classy Carina Mia.Heading to Albany International Airport, Smith had been at the center of the American racing universe all weekend long, even as that center shifted from Del Mar on Saturday to Saratoga on Sunday. On Saturday, Smith rode Win the Space in the San Diego Handicap and came away with the $24,000 worth of third-place crumbs that California Chrome and Dortmund left on the table after an epic bar brawl that set up a thriller in next months Pacific Classic.Both those two were coming off layoffs, so you hope theyll do something to each other early to give me a chance to maybe get lucky and pick up the pieces, Smith said. But you dont want to ruin your chances going after them. They started running away from us about the three-eighths pole, so right about then, I looked around to see that wed be third for sure.He was, 7-1/4 lengths behind runner-up Dortmund and 9-1/2 lengths ahead of the fourth-place finisher, Follow Me Crev. In his previous start, Win the Space had thrown a scare into Melatonin in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita.Hes a talented horse, Smith said of Win the Space. They get him away from those first two, and he could win some nice races.Del Mar fans gave both the victorious California Chrome and Dortmund a rousing hand when they returned, while at Saratoga, it was all for Songbird.The fanss in New York, when theyre cheering for you, theyre great, he said.dddddddddddd. When theyre not, theyre pretty brutal. But she got such a big ovation coming back after the race, you could tell they loved her. And she deserved it.Songbird is just starting her romance with Saratoga -- the Alabama Stakes is next -- but for Smith, it was a special homecoming. He led the meet three straight years in the early 1990s and won the Travers twice (with Holy Bull and Coronados Quest), along with just about every other major event on the summer calendar. More recently, he shipped to Saratoga to win the 2013 Personal Ensign with Royal Delta and the 2010 Diana on Proviso, both for Bill Mott.Smiths mounts have earned an average of more than $23,000 for each start this season, by far the best in the nation. But he has ridden only 184 races. Thats fewer than Jose Ortiz has won. In the days leading up to the weekend, Smith had just three mounts in three days at Del Mar.Four rides on Saturday helped Smith sleep on the red-eye, but his only mount on Sunday was Songbird. The rider ramped up his regular exercise routine to accommodate the situation, aware that he would be going from warm, relatively dry Pacific breezes to the inside of a radiator in upstate New York.I knew it would be hot and very, very humid, Smith said. The heavier air makes it very hard to breathe for people and horses who arent used to it, so I trained myself hard. I knew I had to be ready for it because I knew Songbird would be.And yet when Carina Mia and Julien Leparoux came to them at the head of the stretch, a strange, intrusive thought interrupted Smiths blissful enjoyment of another Songbird cruise.[Carina Mia] came at me pretty hard there for a little bit, and we took off, Smith said. I thought, Wow, if that filly can keep it up, whos gonna cave in first? She dug in really good, though. When we straightened out and she switched leads, she gave me another gear. I thought, Man, Im glad thats there.Smith hit Songbird twice left-handed, something hed never done in the heat of battle.I didnt hit her that hard, just a couple times to let her know to go ahead, it wasnt over yet, and she dug in really good, Smith said. Then I looked over at the big screen and saw her all alone, drawing away.His final thought, as Songbird finished more than five lengths clear?Man, Smith replied, I cant believe this.Believe it. ' ' '