Looking to turn it around
A year ago, Se Ri Pak was a guaranteed LPGA Hall of Famer who had lost her way.
Pak had 22 victories at the time and was already secure in the points she would need to enter the Hall of Fame.
But Pak won once in the past two seasons and was coming off a winless 2005 that saw her fail to record a single top-10 finish in 12 starts after she cut the year short because of her poor play and frustration.
The poor play and frustration ended at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship last year, when Pak won a one-hole playoff against Karrie Webb for her fifth career major title.
Just weeks from defending that major title, Pak says she believes the down times are a thing of the past.
“Everybody goes through all those up-and-downs in the years,” Pak said. “It seems like I totally found myself and found more game, and now I’m more enjoying my game.”
Pak seemed to have fallen victim to a widespread syndrome on the LPGA Tour. The pressure to continue to win and keep up with the dominant Annika Sorenstam was draining the enjoyment of the game out of some players. That was true with Pak and Webb, who struggled through a similar winless 2005 season.
Webb had won the 2006 Kraft Nabisco and admitted she was relaxing and enjoying the game more. Pak said nearly identical things after winning the LPGA Championship over Webb.
“I have so much winning before, I have a great many years, but I don’t think I never, ever enjoyed it,” Pak said. “But since last year and this year, it’s been totally different. I know my game is not quite as great as before, but I know it gets real close. But it’s fun. It’s very exciting and fun to play events every week, and I like being out here again, which is very different.”
The struggles of 2004 and 2005 were in sharp contrast to Pak’s early explosion onto the LPGA Tour.
In her rookie year of 1998, she won the LPGA Championship as her first victory and the U.S. Women’s Open as her second title. She won four tournaments that year and was rookie of the year. She added four more victories in 1999 and five more tournaments each in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, she won the Vare scoring trophy and three more tournaments.
Pak’s early career was so amazing that her 2004 victory at the Michelob Ultra Open earned her the 27th and final point needed for Pak to qualify for the Hall of Fame. Points are awards to a player for wins and postseason awards, with major titles earning a player two points. Pak was 26 years old and couldn’t enter the Hall until she completed 10 years membership on the tour.
That 10 years will be completed the same week Pak defends her LPGA Championship.
“It arrives at the perfect time, too,” Pak said. “I mean, that couple of weeks is going to be very exciting. A little bit exciting, a little bit nervous.”
Pak’s 2007 season hasn’t included a victory, but she does have four top-10 finishes in eight starts. She came close to winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April — the only major she hasn’t won. Pak led the tournament through three rounds but a final-round 77 dropped her into a tie for 10th.
Pak said she already has accomplished her biggest goal, to get into the Hall of Fame. But she still has some remaining goals.
One would be to be named Rolex Player of the Year, an award that has been won only by Sorenstam, Webb and Lorena Ochoa since Pak joined the tour. Another would be to step out of Sorenstam’s shadow and be known as the No. 1 player in the world.
Pak also showed she can still dream big, bigger than anything she has accomplished in an already stellar career.
“I know this is not really easy to get my goal, but I just want to win a (Grand Slam), four majors for the year,” she said. “I’m going to try.”