Fairways and Greens

Pak Wins Futures Tour Event
No, Se Ri Pak's recent slump has not caused her to return to the minor leagues to seek confidence! There's a new Pak on the horizon. On the Futures Tour, the opening event of the season, the Lakeland Futures Golf Classic in Lakeland, Florida, was won by a player named Jin Young Pak. Pak mentality is in the air! (Editor's note: I am well aware that 'Park' and 'Pak' are the same surname in Korean, so that, in fact, there have been a lot of Pak/Park winners on tour; but most everyone translates their surname as Park when they come over here, so Se Ri and Jin Young are fairly unique!).

What makes the win more special is that this was Jin Young's first ever professional event. She is an 18 year old fresh out of high school; in fact, she graduated only in February. Like many Korean players, Jin Young came over to the States to hone her golf game; she completed her high school diploma by correspondence while hitting 1,000 balls a day. Jin Young is originally from Kang Leoung, Korea, and now lives in Tampa, Florida.

Jin Young Pak holds her trophy

Originally, Pak was simply hoping to make the cut in her first professional event; but after two rounds, she found herself only three shots out of the lead, and began to believe she could actually win. She caught fellow Korean Aimee Cho on the 9th hole on Sunday, which she birdied and Cho bogied, and cushioned her lead to three shots shortly thereafter. Things stayed close, though, and by the 16th hole, Pak was trembling as she played her shots. Still, she persevered, and won the event by three shots over fellow Korean player Sun Young Yoo.

In fact, it was quite a day for the Korean players, as they captured 4 of the top five spots. Second round leader Aimee Cho faded to a tie for third, and one of the other players tied there was another teen star, Seon Hwa Lee.

Jin Young followed this up with a 24th place finish at the next Futures Tour event, the Tampa Bay Classic. That one was won by Australian Sarah Jane Kenyon, but Seon Hwa Lee managed a third place there as well. Currently, Jin Young Pak is second on the Futures Tour money list, Lee is third, and Sun Young Yoo is fifth. Good work so far, ladies!

Click here to read more about Jin Young Pak's victory!

Magazine Rack: Grace in ESPN The Magazine
Be sure to check out the latest ESPN the Magazine, which contains an article about Grace Park with lots of photos! The article talks about some of the stuff she has to deal with from the Korean media, who like to hook her up (in their imaginations) with all sorts of famous Korean male athletes. It's the issue with NBA player Steve Nash on the cover, and it might still be on newsstands when you read this!

( you can find an online version of the article at ESPN's site, but you have to register to see it)

In other "news", the other day I was at my local pro shop buying equipment for the upcoming season, and noticed a poster on the wall with Grace Park on it talking about the Nike equipment she uses. Nice to see that Nike is finally making some effort to get her name out there. It was a nice shot of her, glancing off to the side in a somewhat menacing way (like she wasn't going to take no stuff from nobody!).

Se Ri Pak buys a second home
Se Ri has bought a second home near the Big Horn Golf Club in Palm Desert, California. You may recall that this was the site of last year's Samsung tournament, during which she had arguably the worst performance of her career, finishing fifteen shots behind the second to last place person in the field. Nonetheless, it was during this debacle that she fell for the area and even picked out the spot she wanted to live.

She seems to like the area for several reasons. The climate is amenable during the Fall and Winter, which makes it an ideal location for training during those seasons. Also, she likes the tax situation there.

The cost of the house is in the neighborhood of $3 million. Now she'll be more motivated than ever to climb back to the top, to pay those mortgage bills!

But there were also a number of Korean players invited to attend, including Song. Song was never quite able to get going all week, though; it might have been the heat, which at times topped 39 degrees Celsius (that's in the neighborhood of 102 degrees Fahrenheit). She shot a 71 and three straight even par 72s and finished 14th. Meanwhile, there were other Korean players who did mount a challenge to eventual winner Shani Waugh from Australia. Finishing tied for third were three Korean players: Jeong Eun Lee, Ran Hong and Hee Young Park. These players all missed the play-off between Waugh and French player Gwladys Nocera by just a single shot. Better luck next time!

Waugh ended up winning the playoff; it was her first playoff win after two previous losses. One loss, you may recall, came to Se Ri Pak at the 2003 Chick-Fil-A Charity Championship. Shani said afterwards, "When I played against Se Ri Pak in America she’s won something like 30 tournament s and I thought well, she’s got all the experience. But when I saw I was competing against Gwladys Nocera from France I thought well this girl is only in her third year on Tour and I have all the experience so it’s my turn to win!”.

Bo Bae Song

Money List
Grace Park continues to struggle with injuries, but still managed her first top five of the year in defense of her title at the Nabisco Championship. This allowed her to move into the top twenty on the money list. Mi Hyun Kim also made a big move with a tie for 5th at this event, her first top ten of the year. Se Ri Pak continues to struggle mightily, but is now in the top 100 at least. The Nabisco was only her second completed event of 2005.

And thanks to her third place finish at the Safeway International, Soo Yun Kang is in the top ten on the money list for the first time in her career. The next event, the Takefuji Classic, is one she has done well at in the past. Let's see if she can keep the momentum going!