In 1996, the year she turned 19, she passed the domestic pro test in first place and turned pro, and in August she earned her first win at the Dongil Renown Ladies Classic. She won four times in her first year and took both the top player and rookie awards. In 1997, she passed the U.S. LPGA Tour qualifying tournament in first place.
The breakthrough yearIn May 1998, the year she turned 21, she won her first major at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, and in July she won the U.S. Women’s Open after 20 extra holes. The image of her playing from a pond with shoes and socks off became a lasting one, and she was LPGA Rookie of the Year that year.
In 1999, she won the ShopRite Classic and the Samsung World Championship, finishing the season with four wins. In 2001, she won the Women’s British Open for her third major. In 2002, she won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship again, becoming the youngest to win four majors.
In 2003, she won the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic for her third win of the season. In 2004, she won the Michelob Ultra Open. In 2006, she won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship after 763 days without a win, for her fifth major. In 2007, her LPGA Hall of Fame induction was secured, and the induction ceremony followed in November.
In 2010, she won the Bell Micro LPGA Classic in a playoff for her 25th career win. In 2014, a KLPGA Tour event bearing her name was created. In 2016, she coached the Rio Olympic women’s golf team and watched Park Inbee win gold, and in October she held her retirement ceremony.
In 2019, she was named Tokyo Olympic team coach again and founded a sports company. In 2020, she began her first regular variety show, E Channel’s Noneun Eonni. In 2021, she led the team at the Tokyo Olympics for the second time. In 2022, she played in the LG Electronics Pak Se-ri World Match in Incheon.
In 2023, the Pak Se-ri Hope Foundation filed a forgery complaint against her father. In 2024, she held a press conference to explain the complaint, and in August she opened a YouTube channel. In 2025, she became general manager of Channel A’s Baseball Queen, and in December the court issued its first-instance ruling in her father’s case. In 2026, she began the year with a donation ceremony for the foundation.
Pak Se-ri (born Sep 28, 1977) passed the Korean women’s pro golf test in first place and turned pro in Apr 1996, the year she turned 19, and became known when she won the U.S. Women’s Open on Jul 7, 1998, the year she turned 21. She reached 25 LPGA Tour wins in 2010, the year she turned 33.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.