Pak Se-ri’s Resurrection Shot

“I feel comfortable when I come here.” Just as the words of Pak Se-ri meant (27, CJ), the Highland Meadows G.C. at Sylvania, Ohio, U.S., was her turf.

Pak, who had failed to finish in the top-10 for eight consecutive tournaments after winning the Michelob Ultra Open in May, shot her resurrection shots from the promised land.

The first round of the LPGA’s Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic (purse of $1.1 million) took place on August 6, at the Highland Meadows G.C. (par 71, 6,365 yards).

Defending champion Pak shot a 66, with six birdies and a bogey, and is currently in second place with U.S. Open champion Meg Mallon (U.S.). The present leader is Women’s British Open winner Karen Stupples (U.K.), who hit a 6-under-par 65.

Although Pak’s driver has been out of tune lately, during the first round her driver accuracy was 71.4 percent – hitting 10 out of 14 fairways – she hit 83.3 percent of her greens in regulation, or 15 out of 18, and she only needed 28 putts. In other words, all three components of her golf game were in tune. She said, “I had a good feeling before the game because my driver shots were hitting the fairway during yesterday’s pro-am game. I think this course is generous to me.”

The Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic is in a way a tournament meant for Pak. She won this tournament back in 1998 when she was a rookie, and continued to win the tournament three more times—in 1999, 2001, and 2003—for a total of four wins. During the two times she did not win, she managed to finish in the top-10.

Current leader Stupples, who seemed to be aware of Pak’s history at this tournament, jokingly said, “[Yeah,] she owns this course. Doesn`t she?” While Mallon said, “When I came out today, I saw Karen was going, and I thought Se-ri must be thinking ‘Not at my tournament’.”

If Pak wins this tournament, she will become only the second LPGA player to have won a single tournament five times. The only player to have achieved that feat was Mickey Wright who won the Sea Island Invitational five times during the 50s and 60s.

On the other hand, Kim Mi-hyun (KTF) and Kim Young (Shinsegae) both hit 1-under-par 70 and are tied for 21st place, while Song aree (Beanpole) and Jang Jeong hit an even-par 71.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com