Se Ri Pak

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Se Ri Pak
Personal Information
Birth September 28, 1977 (1977-09-28) (age 30)
Daejeon, Korea
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Nationality Flag of South Korea South Korea
Residence Orlando, Florida, U.S.
College none
Career
Turned Pro 1996
Current tour LPGA Tour (joined 1998)
Other tour KLPGA (joined 1996)
Professional wins 30 (LPGA Tour: 24, other individual: 6)
Best results in major championships
Wins: 5
Kraft Nabisco T9: 2002
LPGA Championship Won 1998, 2002, 2006
U.S. Women's Open Won 1998
Women's British Open Won 2001
Awards
LPGA Rookie of the Year 1998
Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year 1998
Vare Trophy 2003
LPGA Heather Farr Award 2006
World Golf Hall of Fame 2007
Se Ri Pak
Hangul 박세리
Hanja 朴세리
Revised Romanization Bak Se-ri
McCune-Reischauer Pak Seri

Se Ri Pak (born September 28, 1977 in Daejeon) is a South Korean professional golfer, playing on the LPGA Tour. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in November 2007.

Contents

[edit] Career overview

Pak turned professional in 1996, a year before she moved to the United States as a 20-year-old.[1] In 1996 and 1997 she won six tournaments on the Korean LPGA (KLPGA) 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. 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.[2] Tom Morris, Jr., who died in 1875 at the age of 24, was 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.

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.

In 2007, she won the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic for the fifth time, making her the third player in LPGA history to win the same tournament five or more times.

Se Ri Pak tees off at the 2006 McDonald's LPGA Championships
Se Ri Pak tees off at the 2006 McDonald's LPGA Championships

[edit] Professional wins (30)

[edit] LPGA Tour (24)

Major championships are shown in bold.

[edit] Korean LPGA (6)

  • 1996-1997 (6) Six wins on the KLPGA in 1996 and 1997

[edit] Results in LPGA majors

Tournament 1997 1998 1999 2000
Kraft Nabisco Championship DNP DNP T13 T15
LPGA Championship DNP 1 T6 T3
U.S. Women's Open T21 1 T14 T15
du Maurier Classic DNP T41 T13 T7
Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Kraft Nabisco Championship T11 T9 T15 T16 T27 T45 T10 T10
LPGA Championship T39 1 T46 T17 CUT 1 T33
U.S. Women's Open 2 5 50 T32 T45 T3 T4
Women's British Open ^ 1 T11 2 T21 WD WD T5

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ TalkAsia, CNN, 2007
  2. ^ Pak qualifies for LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame. LPGA.com. June 7, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2007. [1]

[edit] External links