Se Ri Pak

[Rusty]

Name: Se Ri Pak
Born: 28 September 1977 (1977-09-28) (age 33)
Daejeon, Korea
Residence: Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Height: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Nationality: South Korea
Turned professional: 1996

History:
Pak turned professional in 1996, a year before she moved to the United States as a 20-year-old. In 1996 and 1997, she won six tournaments on the LPGA of Korea Tour. Pak 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. At just 20 years of age, she became the youngest-ever winner of U.S. Women's Open. Pak won a 20-hole playoff for that victory, making that tournament - at 92 holes in length - the longest tournament ever in women's professional golf. Four days after the U.S. Women's Open win, Pak shot a then-LPGA record 61 during the second round of the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic. She won the Rolex Rookie of the Year award for that season.

Since then she has gone on to win 24 events on the Tour, including three more majors. In June 2007, at age 29, she qualified for the World Golf Hall of Fame, surpassing Karrie Webb as the youngest living entrant ever. (Tom Morris, Jr., who died in 1875 at the age of 24, had been elected in 1975.)

Pak has also competed in a professional men's 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. She finished 10th in the event, becoming the first woman to make the cut in a professional men's tournament since Babe Zaharias did so in 1945.

At the 2005 McDonald's 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 McDonald's LPGA Championship for the third time to claim her fifth major title overall.

In 2007, she won the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic for the fifth time, making her the fourth player in LPGA history to win the same tournament five or more times (Annika Sörenstam accomplished this feat at two tournaments).

Perhaps the greatest tribute to her career to date came in a column by Golf World writer Eric Adelson in 2008, who called Pak "a pioneer... who changed the face of golf even more than Tiger Woods." When Pak came to the LPGA in 1998, she was the only Korean player. Ten years later, she was one of 45 Koreans on tour, and the single largest source of revenue for the LPGA was the sale of TV rights in South Korea.

Professional wins (31)
LPGA Tour (25)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	17 May 1998	McDonald's LPGA Championship	-11 (65-68-72-68=273)	3 strokes	Donna Andrews Lisa Hackney
2	5 Jul 1998	U.S. Women's Open	+6 (69-70-75-76=290)	Playoff	Jenny Chuasiriporn
3	12 Jul 1998	Jamie Farr Kroger Classic	-23 (261)	9 strokes	Lisa Hackney
4	26 Jul 1998	Giant Eagle LPGA Classic	-15 (201)	1 stroke	Dottie Pepper
5	20 Jun 1999	ShopRite LPGA Classic	-15 (198)	2 strokes	Trish Johnson
6	4 Jul 1999	Jamie Farr Kroger Classic	-8 (276)	Playoff	Kelli Kuehne Carin Koch Sherri Steinhauer Karrie Webb Mardi Lunn
7	12 Sep 1999	Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf	-8 (280)	1 stroke	Karrie Webb
8	14 Nov 1999	PageNet Championship	-12 (276)	Playoff	Karrie Webb Laura Davies
9	16 Jan 2001	YourLife Vitamins LPGA Classic	-13 (203)	4 strokes	Carin Koch Penny Hammel
10	22 Apr 2001	Longs Drugs Challenge	-8 (208)	2 strokes	Laura Diaz
11	8 Jul 2001	Jamie Farr Kroger Classic	-15 (269)	2 strokes	Maria Hjorth
12	5 Aug 2001	Weetabix Women's British Open	-11 (71-70-70-66=277)	2 strokes	Mi Hyun Kim
13	30 Sep 2001	AFLAC Champions	-16 (272)	5 strokes	Lorie Kane
14	7 Apr 2002	The Office Depot Championship	-7 (209)	1 stroke	Annika Sorenstam
15	9 Jun 2002	McDonald's LPGA Championship	-5 (71-70-68-70=279)	3 strokes	Beth Daniel
16	25 Aug 2002	First Union Betsy King Classic	-21 (267)	3 strokes	Angela Stanford
17	13 Oct 2002	Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions	-20 (268)	4 strokes	Catriona Matthew Carin Koch
18	27 Oct 2002	Sports Today CJ Nine Bridges Classic	-3 (213)	6 strokes	Carin Koch
19	23 Mar 2003	Safeway PING	-23 (65-68-68-64=265)	1 stroke	Grace Park
20	27 Apr 2003	Chick-fil-A Charity Championship	-16 (71-65-64=200)	Playoff	Shani Waugh
21	18 Aug	Jamie Farr Kroger Classic	-13 (69-67-64-71=271)	2 strokes	Marisa Baena Hee-Won Han
22	9 May 2004	Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill	-9 (70-71-69-65=275)	2 strokes	Juli Inkster Lorena Ochoa
23	11 Jun 2006	McDonald's LPGA Championship	-8 (71-69-71-69=280)	Playoff	Karrie Webb
24	15 Jul 2007	Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic	-17 (63-68-69-67=267)	3 strokes	Morgan Pressel
25	16 May 2010	Bell Micro LPGA Classic	-13 (69-66-68=203)	Playoff	Brittany Lincicome Suzann Pettersen

Major championships (5)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1998	McDonald's LPGA Championship	-11 (65-68-72-68=273)	3 strokes	United States Donna Andrews, England Lisa Hackney
1998	U.S. Women's Open	+6 (69-70-75-76=290)	Playoff 1	United States Jenny Chuasiriporn
2001	Weetabix Women's British Open	-11 (71-70-70-66=277)	2 strokes	South Korea Mi Hyun Kim
2002	McDonald's LPGA Championship	-5 (71-70-68-70=279)	3 strokes	United States Beth Daniel
2006	McDonald's LPGA Championship	-8 (71-69-71-69=280)	Playoff 2	Australia Karrie Webb

LPGA Tour record

Year	Events played	Cuts made	Wins	2nds	3rds	Top tens	Best finish	Earnings ($)	Rank	Scoring average	Scoring rank
1998	27	26	4	0	0	8	1	872,170	2	71.41
1999	27	24	4	0	0	10	1	956,926	3	70.77
2000	23	22	0	0	2	11	3	550,376	12	72.49
2001	21	20	5	5	2	12	1	1,623,009	2	69.69	2
2002	24	24	5	1	2	17	1	1,722,281	2	69.85	2
2003	26	25	3	6	0	20	1	1,611,928	2	70.03	1
2004	19	17	1	1	0	5	1	682,669	11	71.34	27
2005	12	9	0	0	0	0	T27	62,628	102	74.21	116
2006	23	21	1	0	2	8	1	884,961	13	71.65	23
2007	23	20	1	0	1	8	1	820,129	16	71.74	14
2008	17	10	0	1	0	3	2	366,143	52	72.59	66
2009	24	20	0	1	0	2	2	447,683	30	71.98	37
2010	9	6	1	0	0	1	1	241,716	15	72.57	64

[MarinePaul]

Very nice bio, Rusty. She got many of us unterested in LPGA golf, as well as setting the standard for the Korean players who followed.

[Rusty]

Thanks Marine, but I can't take credit for writing this or the others it comes, is copied from wiki.

[bangkokbobby]

...who is Se Ri Pak?

Juuuuuust kidding!

For a super duper bio on Se Ri, it is a must to check out:

Se Ri Pak Main

Eric's bio on the bottom half of the page...awesome...just awesome...if you like Se Ri, I highly recommend checking out this amazing homage page to Se Ri...

...and for good measure...a couple of videos honoring Se Ri's inspiration among her countrywomen...

Se Ri Pak Inspires Korean Players

Se Ri Pak - Korean Inspiration