S


e Ri Pak’s victory at the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open turned her into the Arnold Palmer


of her native South Korea: a popular- izing figure of profound importance. Pak, then a 20-year-old rookie, spurred a generation of young girls to take up the game, and their impact is still being felt. The LPGA’s current queen bee, Inbee Park, 27, can still recall the shrieks of joy from her parents as they huddled around the television watching Pak’s triumph. Two days later little In- bee found herself at the driving range for the first time. Dozens of other LPGA players


have similar stories. Koreans have changed the face of the modern LPGA


Tour, but what makes their collective success so hard to replicate is the intensely personal nature of their development. There is not a strong national team analogous to the regimented, state- funded machine in


Sweden, nor are there big, broad non-gov- ernmental organization programs like The First


A seminal win at the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open has triggered nearly two decades of South Korean dominance on the LPGA Tour


BY ALAN SHIPNUCK 32 / NCGA.ORG / SUMMER 2015


Tee or Youth on Course, which have birthed so many good players here in the United States. No, the Korean model is basically a dedicated little girl and her even more dedicated parents—a


cloistered unit that is built upon the values of a traditional society in which


deference to one’s elders is paramount. The hard-driving, oft-overbearing Korean dad has long been an LPGA cliché, right up there with the doting, deferential Korean mom. Michelle Wie’s parents remain the archetype. Her father B.J. walks every practice round with binoculars around his neck,


PHOTO: USGA


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