Se Ri Pak
My first and most vivid memory of golf is of
Tiger Woods, dressed in his red Nike turtle neck and black slacks,
pumping his fist as his ball dropped in the 18th hole of Augusta
National to win the 1997 Masters Championship. This fist pump and
infamous victory forever changed the world of golf, particularly
for all Asians.
The next year in 1998, at only 20 years old,
Se Ri Pak caught the attention of many eyes after winning the first
Major championship she had ever competed in, the LPGA
Championship. She went on to win the US Women's Open and two
other tournaments that year and was crowned the 1998 Rookie of the
Year. At that time, she was only one of three female Asians
on the LPGA tour, so you were lucky if you caught a rare glimpse of
female Asians golfers on TV. At that time, I had also began
taking golf lessons. A coincidence? I don't think so. I
remember the first words my first coach ever said to me: "You're
going to be the next Se Ri Pak."
The success of these two stars brought a slow
trickle of Asian and Asian American presence to the golf scene. Ten
years later that trickle has become a massive flood of Asian and
Asian Americans in professional golf. Currently, 10 out of the top
20 women golfers in the world are Asian and half of the top 50 are
from South Korea, Japan, and China. The success in golf of
many Asians and Asian Americans in general has according to the
National Golf Foundation greatly increased the amount of diverse
interests in golf. From the 2.4 million ethnic golfers, about
882,000 are African-American, about 851,000 are Asian/Pacific
Islander, and about 712,000 are American Indian, Eskimo, or
Aleut.
With 24 victories, including 5 Major
championships, Se Ri Pak is regarded as one of the best women
golfers in the world. This past year she was inducted into
the LPGA Hall of Fame. Pak has earned nearly $10,000,000 on the
tour, with the most wins and success of all female Asian golfers to
date.
Some
interesting facts from SeoulSisters.com
Nicknames:
The Magic Princess (because of a Japanese cartoon character from
the 80's named Seri the Magic Princess!); the Golf Queen (for
obvious reasons).
Other Sports: Sprinting, shotputting, kickboxing,
taekwando
Hobbies: Shopping, playing video games, practicing
golf, watching TV, mountain
climbing
What's
cool about her: No matter how she does, she is always
pleasant and happy. She never complains about bad breaks or unfair
situations, chalking it up to the way golf is. And she always
respects her opponents, never trash talking. She works harder than
you could imagine. And she has a wonderful smile and giggly
personality.
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