Golf :: Se Ri Pak's Barefoot Shot — How a Legend Was Born at the 1998 U.S. Women's Open

Hello everyone.

 

Today's post is about one of golf's true legends, Se Ri Pak.

Why does one barefoot shot from a water hazard still get talked about almost three decades later?

If you follow golf at all, you've probably seen this image before: a 21-year-old golfer wading into a pond, shoes and socks off, to play a ball that most players would have simply conceded. That single moment from 1998 is still one of the most referenced images in the sport's history.

The player behind that shot is Se Ri Pak. She rose to the top of women's golf at a time when South Korea was going through the 1997-98 IMF financial crisis, and her win is often described as a rare piece of good news for a country going through a difficult stretch. Today we'll walk through that moment and the career that followed it.

 

Origins: A Rookie's Breakout Year

Se Ri Pak turned professional in South Korea in 1996, and the following year she moved over to the U.S. LPGA Tour. At the time, it was still unusual for a Korean player to contend for wins right out of the gate on the world's top women's tour.

In 1998, essentially her rookie season on the LPGA, Pak won the LPGA Championship in May, becoming the first Korean golfer to capture a major title. It's still viewed as a landmark moment in the history of Korean women's golf.

Just seven weeks later, she found herself in a fierce battle with amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn at the U.S. Women's Open, played at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin. After 72 holes of regulation play, the two were tied.

South Korea was in the middle of the 1997-98 IMF crisis at the time, and a 21-year-old rookie chasing back-to-back majors was closely followed by Korean media throughout the tournament.

 

Key Facts: "The Shot" at Blackwolf Run

Tied after regulation, Pak and Chuasiriporn moved into an 18-hole playoff, which also ended level, sending the match to sudden death. On the extra hole, Pak's tee shot drifted off the fairway and came to rest on the bank of a water hazard.

The ball had settled just inside the edge of the pond, in a spot where most players would have taken a penalty drop rather than risk the shot. Pak took off her shoes and socks, stepped into the water barefoot, and played the ball back onto the fairway. The moment was later immortalized as "The Shot," one of the most replayed images in LPGA history.

That recovery kept the match alive into the next day, and Pak eventually won on the 20th extra hole with a 20-foot birdie putt. The victory made her the youngest player at the time to win two majors in a single season.

U.S. media outlets nicknamed her "Shoeless Se Ri" in the aftermath, and the image of her barefoot in the hazard remains a defining moment not just in her career, but in the broader story of Korean sports.

 

Good to Know: The "Se Ri Kids" and Her Legacy

Pak went on to win 25 LPGA Tour titles and 5 majors over her career, with her final win coming in 2010. In 2007 she became the first Korean golfer inducted into the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame.

One of the most lasting effects of her 1998 win is a generation of Korean players known as the "Se Ri Kids." Many Korean girls who were around 10 years old when they watched her win picked up golf clubs of their own, and a large number of them went on to become LPGA stars in their own right.

After retiring from competitive play, Pak stayed closely connected to the sport. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she served as the head coach of the South Korean women's national golf team.

She continues to appear regularly in golf broadcasting and events, and remains one of the most recognizable figures in the history of Korean golf.