Se Ri Pak
Se Ri Pak (born
September 28,
1977 in
Daejeon,
South Korea) is a professional
golfer. She is the most internationally successful Korean golfer of either sex by a wide margin. This article gives her Romanized name in Western order (given names first); her family name is Pak (박).
Pak turned professional in 1996, and joined the
LPGA Tour full-time for the year 1998, crowning her rookie season with victories in two majors: the McDonald's
LPGA Championship and
U.S. Women's Open. She won the Rolex Rookie of the Year award for that season.
Since then she has gone on to win over 20 events on the tour, including three more majors. Her success means she has effectively qualified for the
World Golf Hall of Fame, but cannot be inducted until she's been a tour member for 10 years (which should occur in
2007). Assuming she enters the Hall in 2007, she will surpass
Karrie Webb as the youngest living entrant ever (the 19th century great
Tom Morris, Jr., elected in
1975, died at age 24).
Pak's strong playing record and her willingness to learn and use English has made her skills popular in the sport, although her achievements have been overshadowed by the presence of
Annika Sörenstam.
Like Sörenstam, Pak has also competed in a professional men's golfer event, at the 2003 SBS Super Tournament on the
Korean Tour. The Korean Tour is a feeder tour for the
Asian Tour and does not offer
world ranking points. Unlike Sörenstam, however, she did make the cut and eventually finished 10th.
At the 2005 LPGA Championship she missed the cut for the first time in 29 majors. In an interview quoted on the
PGA Tour's website she commented that she was searching for a balance between her golf and her personal life: "I've been a little bit unhappy about everything, my game, big game. I'm not really enjoying it at all, and I'm not doing anything with my ability. I know what I needed, a much better balance. I'm always putting a lot of pressure on myself." Eventually, she was found to have a finger injury. In 2006 she rediscovered her best form by winning the
LPGA Championship for the third time to claim her fifth major title overall.
*1998
McDonald's LPGA Championship,
U.S. Women's Open,
Jamie Farr Kroger Classic, Giant Eagle LPGA Classic
*1999 ShopRite LPGA Classic,
Jamie Farr Kroger Classic, Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf, PageNet Championship
*2001 YourLife Vitamins LPGA Classic, Longs Drugs Challenge,
Jamie Farr Kroger Classic,
Weetabix Women's British Open, AFLAC Champions
*2002 The Office Depot Championship,
McDonald's LPGA Championship, First Union Betsy King Classic, Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions, Sports Today CJ Nine Bridges Classic.
*2003 Safeway PING, Chick-fil-A Charity Championship,
Jamie Farr Kroger Classic*2004
Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill*2006
McDonald's LPGA ChampionshipMajor championships are shown in bold.
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Se Ri Pak tees off at the 2006 McDonald's LPGA Championships |
