Pak Se-ri

Pak Se-ri
Personal information
Born (1977-09-28) 28 September 1977 (age 46)
Yusong, Taejon, South Korea
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Sporting nationality South Korea
ResidenceOrlando, Florida, U.S.
Career
Turned professional1996
Former tour(s)LPGA of Korea Tour (joined 1996)
LPGA Tour (joined 1998)
Professional wins39
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour25
LPGA of Korea Tour14
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 5)
Chevron ChampionshipT4: 2014
Women's PGA C'shipWon: 1998, 2002, 2006
U.S. Women's OpenWon: 1998
du Maurier ClassicT7: 2000
Women's British OpenWon: 2001
Evian ChampionshipT4: 2013
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame2007 (member page)
LPGA Rookie of the Year1998
GWAA Female
Player of the Year
1998
LPGA Vare Trophy2003
LPGA Heather Farr Award2006
Associated Press
Female Athlete of the Year
1998
Bob Jones Award2020
Pak Se-ri
Hangul
박세리
Revised RomanizationBak Seri
McCune–ReischauerPak Seri

Pak Se-ri or Se-ri Pak (Korean: 박세리, Korean pronunciation: [paːk seːɾi]; born 28 September 1977) 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

Born in Taejon, she attended Yusong Elementary School [ko] in that city and then Keumseong Girls’ High School [ko] in Kongju 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 U.S. 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. (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 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 (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 South Korean player. Ten years later, she was one of 45 South Koreans on tour, and the single largest source of revenue for the LPGA was the sale of TV rights in South Korea.

Pak was the only South Korean on the LPGA Tour in the year 1998. Her spectacular triumph at the 1998 U.S. Women's Open encouraged many South 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 South 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 South Korea's lone LPGA-sanctioned event, the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship.

Professional wins (39)

LPGA Tour (25)

Legend
Major championships (5)
Other LPGA Tour (20)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 17 May 1998 McDonald's LPGA Championship 65-68-72-68=273 −11 3 strokes United States Donna Andrews
England Lisa Hackney
2 5 Jul 1998 U.S. Women's Open 69-70-75-76=290 +6 Playoff United States Jenny Chuasiriporn (a)
3 12 Jul 1998 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic 71-61-63-66=261 −23 9 strokes England Lisa Hackney
4 26 Jul 1998 Giant Eagle LPGA Classic 65-69-67=201 −15 1 stroke United States Dottie Pepper
5 20 Jun 1999 ShopRite LPGA Classic 63-69-66=198 −15 2 strokes England Trish Johnson
6 4 Jul 1999 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic 68-69-68-71=276 −8 Playoff Sweden Carin Koch
United States Kelli Kuehne
Australia Mardi Lunn
United States Sherri Steinhauer
Australia Karrie Webb
7 12 Sep 1999 Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf 67-71-70-72=280 −8 1 stroke Australia Karrie Webb
8 14 Nov 1999 PageNet Championship 66-66-74-70=276 −12 Playoff England Laura Davies
Australia Karrie Webb
9 16 Jan 2001 YourLife Vitamins LPGA Classic 71-68-64=203 −13 4 strokes United States Penny Hammel
Sweden Carin Koch
10 22 Apr 2001 Longs Drugs Challenge 66-71-71=208 −8 2 strokes United States Laura Diaz
11 8 Jul 2001 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic 70-62-69-68=269 −15 2 strokes Sweden Maria Hjorth
12 5 Aug 2001 Weetabix Women's British Open 71-70-70-66=277 −11 2 strokes South Korea Mi Hyun Kim
13 30 Sep 2001 AFLAC Champions 70-67-64-71=272 −16 5 strokes Canada Lorie Kane
14 7 Apr 2002 The Office Depot Championship 68-68-73=209 −7 1 stroke Sweden Annika Sörenstam
15 9 Jun 2002 McDonald's LPGA Championship 71-70-68-70=279 −5 3 strokes United States Beth Daniel
16 25 Aug 2002 First Union Betsy King Classic 70-68-66-63=267 −21 3 strokes United States Angela Stanford
17 13 Oct 2002 Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions 65-70-67-66=268 −20 4 strokes Sweden Carin Koch
Scotland Catriona Matthew
18 27 Oct 2002 Sports Today CJ Nine Bridges Classic 65-76-72=213 −3 6 strokes Sweden Carin Koch
19 23 Mar 2003 Safeway PING 65-68-68-64=265 −23 1 stroke South Korea Grace Park
20 27 Apr 2003 Chick-fil-A Charity Championship 71-65-64=200 −16 Playoff Australia Shani Waugh
21 18 Aug 2003 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic 69-67-64-71=271 −13 2 strokes Colombia Marisa Baena
South Korea Han Hee-won
22 9 May 2004 Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill 70-71-69-65=275 −9 2 strokes United States Juli Inkster
Mexico Lorena Ochoa
23 11 Jun 2006 McDonald's LPGA Championship 71-69-71-69=280 −8 Playoff Australia Karrie Webb
24 15 Jul 2007 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic 63-68-69-67=267 −17 3 strokes United States Morgan Pressel
25 16 May 2010 Bell Micro LPGA Classic 69-66-68=203 −13 Playoff United States Brittany Lincicome
Norway Suzann Pettersen

LPGA Tour playoff record (6–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1998 U.S. Women's Open United States Jenny Chuasiriporn (a) Won with birdie on second extra hole
after 18-hole playoff (Chuasiriporn:73, Pak:73)
2 1999 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic Sweden Carin Koch
United States Kelli Kuehne
Australia Mardi Lunn
United States Sherri Steinhauer
Australia Karrie Webb
Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1999 PageNet Championship England Laura Davies
Australia Karrie Webb
Won with birdie on first extra hole
4 2003 Chick-fil-A Charity Championship Australia Shani Waugh Won with par on fourth extra hole
5 2006 McDonald's LPGA Championship Australia Karrie Webb Won with birdie on first extra hole
6 2010 Bell Micro LPGA Classic United States Brittany Lincicome
Norway Suzann Pettersen
Won with birdie on third extra hole
Pettersen eliminated by par on second hole

LPGA of Korea Tour (14)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 26 Sep 1992 Lyle and Scott Women's Open (as an amateur) 71-72=143 −1 Playoff South Korea Won Jae-sook
2 1 May 1993 Tomboy Women's Open (as an amateur) 76-71-72=219 +3 Playoff South Korea Kim Soon-mi
3 29 Apr 1995 Tomboy Women's Open (as an amateur) 76-71-68=215 −1 3 strokes South Korea Kim Soon-mi
South Korea Lee O-soon
4 17 Jun 1995 Midopa Women's Open (as an amateur) 72-68-68=209 −7 4 strokes South Korea Lee O-soon
5 24 Jun 1995 Christian Dior Women's Open (as an amateur) 65-67-67=200 −16 10 strokes South Korea Lee O-soon
6 8 Oct 1995 Seoul Women's Open (as an amateur) 69-73-72=214 −2 2 strokes South Korea Ku Ok-hee
7 24 Aug 1996 Dongil Renown Ladies Classic 65-74-70=209 −7 1 strokes South Korea Song Chae-eun
8 1 Sep 1996 FILA Women's Open 70-67-69=206 −10 4 strokes South Korea Bu Hyeong-soon
9 8 Sep 1996 Diadora Cup SBS Professional Golf Challenge 77-73-77-74=301 +13 1 stroke South Korea Song Chae-eun
10 6 Oct 1996 Hanwha Cup Seoul Women's Open 68-71-71=210 −6 Playoff South Korea Chung Il-mi
11 28 Sep 1997 Cheil Industries Rose Women's Open 68-69-73=210 −6 Playoff South Korea Chung Il-mi
12 5 Oct 1997 Hanwha Cup Seoul Women's Open 71-68-68=207 −9 9 strokes South Korea Park Hyun-soon
South Korea Mi-Hyun Kim
13 18 May 2003 MBC-Xcanvas Women's Open 69-65-70=204 −12 3 strokes South Korea Ji Eun-hee (amateur)
14 23 Sep 2012 KDB Daewoo Securities Classic 69-66-65=200 −16 3 strokes South Korea Heo Yoon-kyung

Major championships

Wins (5)

Pak at the 2009 LPGA Championship in Bulle Rock, Maryland
Year Championship Winning score To par Margin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
1998 McDonald's LPGA Championship 65-68-72-68=273 −11 3 strokes United States Donna Andrews, England Lisa Hackney
1998 U.S. Women's Open 69-70-75-76=290 +6 Playoff 1 United States Jenny Chuasiriporn (a)
2001 Weetabix Women's British Open 71-70-70-66=277 −11 2 strokes South Korea Mi Hyun Kim
2002 McDonald's LPGA Championship 71-70-68-70=279 −5 3 strokes United States Beth Daniel
2006 McDonald's LPGA Championship 71-69-71-69=280 −8 Playoff 2 Australia 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.

Tournament 1997 1998 1999 2000
ANA Inspiration T13 T15
Women's PGA Championship 1 T6 T3
U.S. Women's Open T21 1 T14 T15
du Maurier Classic T41 T13 T7
Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
ANA Inspiration T11 T9 T15 T16 T27 T45 T10 T10 T40
Women's PGA Championship T39 1 T46 T17 CUT 1 T33 T46 T65
U.S. Women's Open 2 5 50 T32 T45 T3 T4 CUT CUT
Women's British Open ^ 1 T11 2 T21 WD WD T5 CUT T20
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
ANA Inspiration T15 T10 T8 T19 T4 CUT
Women's PGA Championship CUT T34 T19 T28 WD WD
U.S. Women's Open CUT T45 T9 CUT T38 CUT
Women's British Open T14 T47 WD
The Evian Championship ^^ T4 T47

^ 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

 Win
 Top 10
 Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied for place

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
ANA Inspiration 0 0 0 1 6 13 17 16
Women's PGA Championship 3 0 1 4 5 7 18 14
U.S. Women's Open 1 1 1 5 6 9 19 14
Women's British Open 1 1 0 3 3 7 12 8
The Evian Championship 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2
du Maurier Classic 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 3
Totals 5 2 2 14 22 39 71 57
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 29 (1997 U.S. Open – 2005 Kraft Nabisco)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2001 U.S. Open – 2002 U.S. Open)

LPGA Tour career summary

Year Tournaments
played
Cuts
made
Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
1998 27 26 4 0 0 8 1 872,170 2 71.41 13
1999 27 24 4 0 0 10 1 956,926 3 70.77 8
2000 23 22 0 0 2 11 3 550,376 12 72.49 10
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 15 9 1 0 0 3 1 368,839 32 72.45 49
2011 20 17 0 0 0 4 4 415,447 27 71.97 26
2012 12 9 0 0 0 5 4 430,338 33 71.18 16
2013 18 14 0 0 0 3 T4 440,162 34 71.88 41
2014 16 10 0 0 0 3 T4 271,888 59 71.75 45
2015 8 3 0 0 0 1 T10 36,083 122 74.25 n/a
2016 10 3 0 0 0 0 T27 20,053 150 69.54 95
  • official through 2016 season

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year World
ranking
Source
2006 12
2007 10
2008 31
2009 43
2010 32
2011 36
2012 26
2013 30
2014 59
2015 228
2016 469

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Filmography

Television shows

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2017–2018 Law of the Jungle in Cook Islands Cast member Episode 293–298
2018 Soo Mi's Side Dishes Regular member Episode 93–99; Guest (Episode 32)
2020–2022 Sporty Sisters Regular member Season 1–2
2020 Law of the Jungle in Wild Korea Cast member Episode 416–419
Law of the Jungle – Zero Point Episode 423–426
2021 Match of the Century: AI vs. Human Regular member
Wild Wild Quiz Cast member Episode 1–12
Three Park: The Second Heart Main host
Ceremony Club Main cast
2022 Operation Time Host
Tomorrow is a Hero-Kanbu
IT Live from Today
Sports Golden Bell contestant Chuseok Special
2023 The Queen Host with Leeteuk and Jang Sung-kyu
2023–present Dogs Are Incredible

Web shows

Year Title Role Ref.
2021–present Cerizabeth Host

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination
Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result Ref.
Brand of the Year Awards 2022 Spotiner Pak Se-ri Won
Brand Customer Loyalty Award Spoiler division Won

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-02-28 04:58 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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