Pak Se-ri


Pak Se-ri or Se-ri Pak is a South Korean former professional golfer, who played on the LPGA Tour from 1998 to 2016. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007.

Career overview

Born in Daejeon, she attended Yuseong Nursery School in that city and then Keumseong Girls’ High School in Gongju City, Chungnam Province where she was the school's best amateur golfer. She then moved to Seoul for training.
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 the U.S. Women's Open. About.com writes that "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 1998, she has gone on to win 21 more 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.
Pak has also competed in a professional men's event, at the 2003 SBS Super Tournament on the Korean Tour. The Korean Tour was a feeder tour for the Asian Tour and did not offer world ranking points. She finished 10th in the event, according to the World Golf Hall of Fame "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.
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.
She was the only South Korean on the LPGA Tour in the year 1998, Pak's spectacular triumph at the 1998 U.S. Women's Open encouraged many Korean women to take up golf as a sport. She is regarded as a leader of the game in her home country and has also inspired the new generations of LPGA players Na Yeon Choi and Inbee Park who have followed her footsteps at the LPGA level. A statue of her now stands outside Gongju's stadium. This statue commemorates her signature moment: a successful shot from a water hazard to remain tied for first place in the 1998 U.S. Women's Open; this allowed her to force a sudden death playoff which she then won with "a tremendous birdie putt from nearly 20 feet on the second hole." This was a victory named by the Korea Times as the 3rd most acclaimed moment in 60 years of South Korean sports history. Her shot was shown as the basis for the first episode of the Korean TV drama "Birdie Buddy."
On 17 March 2016, Pak announced that she would retire following the 2016 season. She retired the following 13 October, after completing the first round of her country's lone LPGA-sanctioned event, the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship.

Professional wins (39)

LPGA Tour (25)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
117 May 1998McDonald's LPGA Championship65-68-72-68=273−113 strokes Donna Andrews
Lisa Hackney
25 Jul 1998U.S. Women's Open69-70-75-76=290+6Playoff Jenny Chuasiriporn
312 Jul 1998Jamie Farr Kroger Classic71-61-63-66=261−239 strokes Lisa Hackney
426 Jul 1998Giant Eagle LPGA Classic65-69-67=201−151 stroke Dottie Pepper
520 Jun 1999ShopRite LPGA Classic63-69-66=198−152 strokes Trish Johnson
64 Jul 1999Jamie Farr Kroger Classic68-69-68-71=276−8Playoff Carin Koch
Kelli Kuehne
Mardi Lunn
Sherri Steinhauer
Karrie Webb
712 Sep 1999Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf67-71-70-72=280−81 stroke Karrie Webb
814 Nov 1999PageNet Championship66-66-74-70=276−12Playoff Laura Davies
Karrie Webb
916 Jan 2001YourLife Vitamins LPGA Classic71-68-64=203−134 strokes Penny Hammel
Carin Koch
1022 Apr 2001Longs Drugs Challenge66-71-71=208−82 strokes Laura Diaz
118 Jul 2001Jamie Farr Kroger Classic70-62-69-68=269−152 strokes Maria Hjorth
125 Aug 2001Weetabix Women's British Open71-70-70-66=277−112 strokes Mi Hyun Kim
1330 Sep 2001AFLAC Champions70-67-64-71=272−165 strokes Lorie Kane
147 Apr 2002The Office Depot Championship68-68-73=209−71 stroke Annika Sörenstam
159 Jun 2002McDonald's LPGA Championship71-70-68-70=279−53 strokes Beth Daniel
1625 Aug 2002First Union Betsy King Classic70-68-66-63=267−213 strokes Angela Stanford
1713 Oct 2002Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions65-70-67-66=268−204 strokes Carin Koch
Catriona Matthew
1827 Oct 2002Sports Today CJ Nine Bridges Classic65-76-72=213−36 strokes Carin Koch
1923 Mar 2003Safeway PING65-68-68-64=265−231 stroke Grace Park
2027 Apr 2003Chick-fil-A Charity Championship71-65-64=200−16Playoff Shani Waugh
2118 Aug 2003Jamie Farr Kroger Classic69-67-64-71=271−132 strokes Marisa Baena
Han Hee-won
229 May 2004Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill70-71-69-65=275−92 strokes Juli Inkster
Lorena Ochoa
2311 Jun 2006McDonald's LPGA Championship71-69-71-69=280−8Playoff Karrie Webb
2415 Jul 2007Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic63-68-69-67=267−173 strokes Morgan Pressel
2516 May 2010Bell Micro LPGA Classic69-66-68=203−13Playoff Brittany Lincicome
Suzann Pettersen

LPGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11998U.S. Women's Open Jenny Chuasiriporn Won with birdie on second extra hole
after 18-hole playoff
21999Jamie Farr Kroger Classic Carin Koch
Kelli Kuehne
Mardi Lunn
Sherri Steinhauer
Karrie Webb		Won with birdie on first extra hole
31999PageNet Championship Laura Davies
Karrie Webb		Won with birdie on first extra hole
42003Chick-fil-A Charity Championship Shani WaughWon with par on fourth extra hole
52006McDonald's LPGA Championship Karrie WebbWon with birdie on first extra hole
62010Bell Micro LPGA Classic Brittany Lincicome
Suzann Pettersen		Won with birdie on third extra hole
Pettersen eliminated with par on second hole

LPGA of Korea Tour (14)

Major championships

Wins (5)

YearChampionshipWinning scoreTo parMargin
of victory		Runner-up
1998McDonald's LPGA Championship65-68-72-68=273−113 strokes Donna Andrews, Lisa Hackney
1998U.S. Women's Open69-70-75-76=290+6Playoff 1 Jenny Chuasiriporn
2001Weetabix Women's British Open71-70-70-66=277−112 strokes Mi Hyun Kim
2002McDonald's LPGA Championship71-70-68-70=279−53 strokes Beth Daniel
2006McDonald's LPGA Championship71-69-71-69=280−8Playoff 2 Karrie Webb

1 Defeated Chuasiriporn on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, after an 18-hole playoff round

2 Defeated Webb on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2015.
^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001

^^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
CUT = missed the half-way cut

WD = withdrew

"T" = tied for place

Summary

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
YearWorld
ranking		Source
200612
200710
200831
200943
201032
201136
201226
201330
201459
2015228
2016469

Team appearances

Amateur
Professional