Pak's golf success 10 years ago began a Korean avalanche

Se Ri Pak had just bogeyed the 15th hole during the first round of this year's Kraft Nabisco Championship when Yesong Han, a 13-year-old from Yuma, Ariz., sheepishly approached with Sharpie in one hand, golf ball in the other.

Like many young girls of Korean descent, Han idolizes the South Korean woman who 10 years ago turned an entire country into golf fanatics by winning the U.S. Women's Open as a 20-year-old rookie.

"Se Ri," said Han, "is golf."

Despite her bogey, Pak smiled, signed Han's golf ball and gave the youngster a pat on the back. Speechless, Han turned and ran to her father, Hansuk, who had taken the day off work to drive the 160 miles to Rancho Mirage, Calif., just so Yesong could see Pak in person.

"You have to encourage these kids because they are the ones now dreaming about being out here," Pak said. "I want to show them the way. I want to show them that if you have a bad hole, you smile and move on. Looking at that little girl get so excited made me happy."

If Pak seems comfortable as a leader, it's because she has now been the Korean pacesetter for an entire decade heading into this week's U.S. Women's Open Championship at Interlachen Country Club in Edina.

"It's hard to believe it's been 10 years," Pak said. "A lot has changed."

Koreans topping leaderboard

Koreans have won 62 times since 1998, including twice this season. Eun-Hee Ji, a second-year tour player, won for the first time Sunday, shooting a final-round 67 for a two-stroke victory over Suzann Pettersen.

This week, 32 Koreans, including two amateurs, will be in the U.S. Women's Open field. And that doesn't include several Korean-Americans such as Christina Kim and Michelle Wie. The second-largest group of international players in the field this week is 10 from Sweden.

"The other Korean girls always call me 'Big Sister,' " Pak said. "At first, there was a lot of pressure on me that came with winning that U.S. Open. I was at such a young age, and to have all of that put on your shoulders, you just aren't ready for it.

"I couldn't go anywhere in public without body guards because there would be so many people crowded around me at once. I just wanted to play golf and not deal with all the other stuff. But now, as I look back, I'm proud of what I've accomplished. I'm happy that I brought all these young Koreans over here with me."

Six Koreans finished in the top 10 at last year's U.S. Women's Open. And that doesn't include Korean-American Angela Park, 18 at the time, a rookie who tied for second.

"It's not too hard to figure out why the Koreans are so good," said Christina Kim, an LPGA Tour veteran. "They tend to work harder than anybody else. They are the ones who are there at dawn, and they are the ones who don't leave until sunset."

It's a work ethic that is instilled by parents at an early age in the Korean culture. What would be considered pushy parenting by American standards is regarded in the Korean culture as simply providing the proper instruction in a competitive world.

If a Korean child demonstrates a special talent, it becomes the focal point in his or her life. For many young Korean girls, golf has become that No. 1 priority, even ahead of education, say many who are familiar with the situation.

"Everywhere I go, I get the question, 'Why are Korean girls so good at golf?'" Korean LPGA Tour player Ji-Yai Shin said through an interpreter. "I think it's because Korean parents give their children what Americans would call 'tough love.' Korean girls are very competitive, even at the lowest junior levels."

Shin, 20, has been called "the next Se Ri" in Korea. She already has 20 career victories in Asia, including 10 last year when she broke Pak's KLPGA record for victories in a season. Shin, a soft-spoken long-hitter in a 5-1 frame, also led last year's U.S. Women's Open through 10 holes of the third round before finishing sixth.

Shortly after Pak won the 1998 U.S. Women's Open, Shin began practicing alongside her father, Jae Suhp Shin, a minister at the time. Jae Suhp had played golf for years, but Ji-Yai's knowledge of the sport and interest in it were limited to what she saw Pak do that summer at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis.

"I would start on practice days at 5 o'clock in the morning and I would go without rest until 11 o'clock at night, until I would go to sleep," Shin said. "My father would be right next to me the whole day."

Shin was enrolled in Hampyeong Golf School, a golf-specific high school for kids 15-18. In 2003, while practicing on the range next to her father, Shin's life was changed forever when she received the news that her mother, Song Suk Na, had been killed in a car accident. Her younger sister, Ji Won, and younger brother, Ji Hoon, were injured and spent the next year in the hospital.

Ji-Yai took care of them at night in the hospital. She would sleep on a cot in their room, get up, go practice golf and return the next evening.

"I didn't win one tournament when my mother was alive," Shin said. "After she died, I dedicated my career to her memory. All of my wins my whole career will be dedicated to my mother."

Language barrier a problem

The increased number of Asian players on the LPGA Tour has created some controversy as some have said it hurts the tour to have so many players who don't speak English and have unfamiliar names. Former LPGA Tour star Jan Stephenson took it to a new level in 2003 when she told Golf Magazine that "the Asians are killing our tour."

LPGA Tour Hall of Famer Betsy Rawls said the Asian players are "making the tour stronger in the caliber of golf." As for helping or hurting its popularity, Rawls said that's "hard to judge because it's hard for Americans to identify the Asian players who don't speak English."

"I like all players," Rawls said. "But it's hard to know who really is who because of the names. And I have a tough time identifying some of the players because they don't talk much in their interviews. But I do still think the LPGA is in great shape."

No. 1-ranked Lorena Ochoa, who is from Mexico, agrees with those who think the Korean players need to learn to speak English for the overall well-being of the tour. Ochoa learned how to speak English when she went to the University of Arizona to play golf.

As for name recognition, leaderboards can get confusing on a tour that, for instance, has 10 players with the last name Kim.

In 2005, Ju-Yun Kim decided the best way to make a name for herself in the United States was to give herself a new one. Later that summer, as "Birdie" Kim, she holed a bunker shot on the 72nd hole and won the U.S. Women's Open. It remains her only victory.

Two years later, on Nov. 12, 2007, Se Ri Pak, at just 30 years, 1 month and 15 days, was inducted into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame. She had qualified four years earlier, but had to wait to be inducted until completing her 10th season.

"I have all these rookies who were 11 or 12 when I was a rookie, and now they put me in the Hall of Fame," said Pak, who tied for fourth at last year's U.S. Women's Open. "I feel really old the way people talk about me. But I'm still young. I can still play."