Se Ri Pak to retire at the end of 2016 season
Se Ri Pak is hanging up the cleats.
The 38-year-old South Korean announced Thursday at the JTBC Founders Cup that this will be her final competitive season.
“Basically, 2016 will be my last full-time season,”Pak said after opening with a 3-under 69 at Wildfire Golf Club in Arizona. “I know I love to play golf but it is also my dream to help others.”
It’s unclear how many more events Pak will play this year. In 2015, Pak dealt with a shoulder injury that limited her schedule to eight events. She didn’t play after June. This is her first LPGA event in nine months.
Pak said she’ll return to her home country with the intention of helping young girls realize the same dreams she accomplished on the LPGA. However, whatever Pak does from here is icing on the cake. She changed the trajectory of the sport forever when, as a 20-year-old, she won two majors in the 1998 season.
Her triumphs, first at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and then in a 20-hole playoff against Jenny Chuasiriporn at the U.S. Women’s Open at Blackwolf Run, inspired a generation of Korean golfers — women especially — to develop their skills and bring them to the LPGA. When Pak was inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007, 45 Korean-born players were on the LPGA.
In total, Pak has 25 LPGA wins, a record for Korean-born players, and five majors, a mark only surpassed by 27-year-old Inbee Park, who now has seven major titles.
Though Pak wouldn’t learn it until years later, she is partially responsible for the world-class player Park is now. Park was convinced to become a pro golfer when she was Pak’s ’98 Women’s Open win.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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