2003 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic: 4 For Toledo

Sometimes there are two things that just go together perfectly, that join in a symmetry that seems as natural as can be. Tracy and Hepburn. Bogey and Bacall. Se Ri Pak and Jamie Farr.

Wait, hold up a minute, I can hear you saying. You don't mean that guy who used to wear dresses on MASH, do you? OK, the show was set in Korea, but besides that, what on Earth does he have to do with Se Ri Pak?

Actually, I don't mean Klinger per se, but rather the tournament on the LPGA tour that bears his name. This is the LPGA tournament that Se Ri Pak simply owns. There are many reasons. She likes the course; it plays to her strength of requiring both length and accuracy. It also reminds her somewhat of the courses she grew up playing. The town of Toledo is similar in ways to her hometown; both are medium sized cities with roughly the same population. She has been fortunate to meet friends at this event who have practically adopted her. Each time she goes to Toledo, she eats every day at their restaurant, where they give her and her friends the food they miss from home. In Se Ri's case, it is a type of chicken soup that gives her extra energy that she most often chooses to eat. And the fans have adopted her, sensing her love for the place, and root her on like nowhere else in the country. For all these reasons and perhaps more, this is Se Ri's favorite stop on tour year after year. And of course, judging by her stellar record here, it will doubtless remain a favorite for years to come.

Se Ri loves playing at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic
Here she is at the 2001 edition

It didn't start out so promisingly, but a foresighted act of kindness definitely set the tone for this long lasting love affair. In 1997, Se Ri Pak was given two LPGA sponsor's exemptions as a 19 year old who had been in the country a mere six months to that time. One was to the now defunct Firstar LPGA Classic; the other was to the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic. She was hardly a household name, either, so it's not clear what possessed the tournament's director to extend the invite. But Se Ri did not forget, even though she missed the cut in this first appearance. A year later, everything had changed, and you would have had to have been purposely ignoring golf news to not have heard the name Se Ri Pak. That year, she won two Majors as a 20 year old rookie phenom. Despite having played in the longest and probably toughest US Women's Open in history just days before, Se Ri remembered the kindness of the Farr's tournament director, and made sure to honor her commitment to play there. The first day of the tournament did not lead one to think she was going to do much; she shot a pedestrian even par 71. Then she went to bed, and got her first good night's sleep in some time. The next day, she went to the course fresh... and dominated it. By the time the smoke had cleared, Se Ri had 10 birdies to show for her efforts, and no bogies. She became the first player in LPGA history to shoot a 61. Barely stopping for breath, she *again* notched 10 birdies on Saturday, although this time with two bogies for a 63. The best consecutive rounds in the history of the league, a record she still co-holds, by the way. Now she sat nine shots ahead of the field, and the papers jokingly wrote about the types of things that could happen to cause Se Ri to lose; meteors crashing into Earth, earthquakes, and the like were deemed the only possible threats to her title hopes. And indeed, although she shot a 'mere' 66 on Sunday, she waltzed away with a 23 under par total, an enormous win, and thousands of diehard fans in Toledo.

Se Ri enjoys her 1998 Farr win with her
puppy Happy

In 1999, she came back to Toledo, eager to defend her crown. That year, things proved to be a lot harder for her. With just a few holes to go, she was at 8 under, two shots out of the lead. It was a good try, but it looked hopeless for Se Ri. But on the very last hole, Carin Koch, the leader to that point, made an enormous blunder, shooting a double bogey and falling back into a tie with Se Ri and four other players. And suddenly, there was a playoff, between six players, no less. The largest playoff in the history of the LPGA! On the first playoff hole, three of the players didn't do much, but three others had good birdie chances. Karrie Webb and Kelli Kuehne each just barely missed their attempts, and now only Se Ri remained to try. She had hit her approach the closest, and showed her clutch playoff skills by draining the birdie to successfully defend her title.

Se Ri wins the massive playoff at the
1999 Farr