By: Max Bechtoldt
This week’s FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship is all about celebrating the legacy of its namesake. Seri Pak revolutionized women’s golf on a global stage, inspiring much of the dominance that has come from South Korea in the last 20 years. Since 2010, 22 of the 69 major championships played have been won by players from South Korea. When Pak won her first major in 1998, there had been no major champions from the country.
Here are the greatest players to come from the incredible golf tradition that Seri Pak started:
5. Sei Young Kim – When Kim won her first major championship at the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, it was the crowning of the pretty unanimously considered best player in the world who had yet to win one. In her career, Kim has 12 LPGA Tour victories, a CME Tour Championship, a rookie of the year award and she was the 2020 LPGA Tour Player of the Year. When Kim is on her A-game, very few if any players in the world can beat her, as evidenced by her historic win in 2018 in Green Bay, where she won by nine strokes, shooting -31 for the event.
4. In Gee Chun – While Chun might not have found a lot of consistency in her LPGA Tour career, she does have a major notch in her belt: majors. The biggest events each year are where Chun shines, with three major championship victories since 2015. She may only have four wins overall, but she also has 12 career runner-up finishes, including two in the majors. She currently holds three legs of the grand slam, winning the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open, the 2018 Evian Championship and the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
3. Jin Young Ko (Above) – Of the current generation of LPGA Tour players, it is hard to argue that Jin Young Ko hasn’t had the best career of the bunch. Since 2017 Ko has won 15 LPGA events including two majors in 2019. Ko won the LPGA Player of the year in 2019 and 2021, when she had five victories including her second consecutive CME title. Ko won rookie of the year in 2018 and was the leading money winner in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Much of the late 2010s and early 2020s on tour have been defined by Jin Young Ko.
2. Seri Pak – The player the LPGA is honoring this weekend, whom is responsible for inspiring every other player on this list. It wasn’t just her revolutionary breakthrough though that makes Pak a legend, she’s also one of the greats in LPGA history. Pak finished her career with 20 wins on the LPGA Tour, startlingly five of them were major championships. Pak was incredibly 6-0 in playoffs in her career and won rookie of the year and the 2003 Vare Trophy for low scoring average for the season. In 2007 she was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame.
I. Inbee Park – The only player so far to surpass Seri Pak, is the legendary Inbee Park, without argument the greatest LPGA Tour player of the 2010s. Park was boosted to a startling seven-career majors by her incredible putting skill. She may well be the greatest putter of all time regardless of gender. Park has won 21 LPGA Tour events in total and in 2016 was the youngest player ever to be inducted in the LPGA Hall of Fame at only 27. She was the leading money winner twice, won two Vare trophies and won the 2013 LPGA Tour Player of the Year. Park has 35 career top 10s in majors and 12 top fives.
