Pak in Hall of Fame; Wie ties for 12th spot

By Arthur Utley
Special to The Advertiser

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — While entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame is a future possibility for teenage sensation Michelle Wie, a place among the elite of women's professional golf is a done deal for Se Ri Pak.

Se Ri Pak overcame a four-shot deficit in the final round to win $330,000. Associated Press

Pak, a 26-year-old native of South Korea who resides in Orlando, Fla., finished at 9-under 275 and earned the $330,000 first-place check and the 27th point she needed to gain acceptance into the two halls of fame.

Meanwhile, the 14-year-old Wie, the only amateur in the field and the player who commanded much of the gallery attention all week, shot a final-round 72 and finished her third LPGA event of the season in a tie for 12th at even-par 284. The 12th-place finish was her third-highest placement in the 13 LPGA tournaments in which she has competed since 2002.

"It was a great week. I had a lot of fun. The course is just awesome, and the fans were great," Wie said.

Would she come back to Kingsmill if extended an invitation next year? "Yeah, sure," she said.

The Kingsmill stop was the third of six sponsor exemptions she is allowed on the LPGA Tour this year. Had she cashed a check, it would have been for $36,153.

Wie began the hot, humid day at 1-under par for 54 holes, and birdies on the third and eighth holes moved her to 3-under. She hit her roughest stretch of the tournament, however, with four straight bogeys on 9 through 12. She eagled the par-5 15th to get back to 1-under for the tournament.

"I didn't really hit that good of a drive. It must have hit something because it went really far," Wie said. "I had about 185 (yards) to the hole and hit a 5-iron. I made a 3-foot putt for eagle."

She bogeyed the final hole when she took three putts from the fringe.

"I didn't really end on a good note," said Wie, who topped the driving distance average statistic for the week by nearly 20 yards (290.4 to Wendy Doolan's 271.5).

Wie heads back to Honolulu to take final exams before taking off to play for the U.S. squad in the Curtis Cup June 12-14.

After that, she returns to Williamsburg for two more tournaments: U.S. Women's Open qualifying at Williamsburg Country Club on June 17, and she will attempt to defend her U.S. Women's Publinx title June 22-27 at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club's Green Course.

The victory made a dream come true for Pak, the winner of four major championships and the standard bearer for South Korean women's golf.

"My biggest goal was trying to join the Hall of Fame, and I worked so hard for seven years. Suddenly, today was the last point to get, and it was Mother's Day, and my mom was here," Pak said.

Pak was only 1-under for the tournament after 36 holes. She was moving up the leader board Saturday when a double-bogey on the 17th hole slowed her ascent. She picked up the momentum quickly yesterday by shooting a 4-under 32 on the front nine.

Six holes into the back nine, Pak led by three strokes over Juli Inkster who shot a 67 and tied for second at 7-under with Lorena Ochoa (71), one of the 54-hole co-leaders.

Hee-Won Han (66) and Doolan (70) tied for fourth at 4-under.

The other overnight leader, Cristie Kerr, posted 75 and tied for sixth with Mi-Hyun Kim (69). The third member of yesterday's final group, Christina Kim, posted a 6-over 77 thanks to a two-shot penalty for slow play and wound up 1-over for the 72 holes.

Ochoa, who also had a chance to win this event last year before tying for second and is seeking her first LPGA victory, made the turn with a two-stroke lead but bogeyed the 10th and 14th holes to fall behind.

"I tried really hard even though I was against bad lies and having a hard time on the greens," Ochoa said. "I just couldn't do it."

With the victory, Pak moved from 14th to third on money list. Ochoa jumped from ninth to fifth. Annika Sorenstam took over first place from Grace Park, the Michelob defending champion, after a tie for eighth here.