Pak Aims at Player of the Year

Responding to the question, “Why do you have to keep people dangling on the line until the last moment?” Pak answered laughing, “It’s more fun that way.” She is known to have said this to an acquaintance on the phone immediately after winning the tournament.

Pak was born a confident champion, coming in strong at decisive moments. This is even evident in the way she has won all five playoffs that she has gone on to play in the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour. Still, it is true that a thousand thoughts went through her mind when she was passed by Morgan Pressel, who went on to hit a hole-in-one at the sixth hole.

“I was both envious and confound. I could have thought, ‘This tournament isn’t meant to be mine,’ but it was too early for that. I made up my mind not to give up. The hole-in-one woke me up and helped me to concentrate as well.”

Pak Se-ri has claimed the title from this same tournament five times, winning close to a million dollars ($995,073) in prize money. A road near the golf course, ‘Monroe Street,’ will be named after Pak Se-ri as ‘Se-ri Pak Drive’ for a year.

In response, Pak said, “I’m very happy. I think I go well with this city.” She added, “I want to win at the upcoming British Women’s Open (the season’s third major tournament). It may seem a bit late, but I will also aim at winning the player of the year award.” After sharing her determination, she headed off for New York where the HSBC Match Play will be held next week.

kjs0123@donga.com