Se Ri Pak is being honored in what’s billed as her final LPGA appearance in South Korea this week.
Pak, who announced her retirement in March, is beloved in her homeland, where she inspired that nation’s rise to power in women’s golf with her U.S. Women’s Open victory at Blackwolf Run in 1998. She is expected to receive a giant sendoff by large crowds beginning with Thursday’s start of the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship in Incheon.
How popular is Pak there? LPGA commissioner Mike Whan told Pak at a news conference Tuesday that he will never forget one of his first trips to the Hana Bank Championship, when he watched Pak walk to the first tee with about 15,000 people waiting for her.