LPGA Hall of Famer Seri Pak sheds tears at a ceremony marking her retirement in Incheon. [Yonhap News Photo]
Pak Seri, the godmother of South Korean golf, made an honorable retirement at home Thursday after completing the first round of the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship on a golf course west of Seoul.
Fans showed respect by tipping their caps with a phrase "Thanks, Seri" written down when she took the stand set up on the fairway of the 18th hole at the Sky 72 Golf and Resort's Ocean Course near Incheon International Airport.
Colleague golfers and fans waved their caps together in a tearful ceremony marking the end of Pak's life as a professional golfer. The ceremony has been arranged since the LPGA Hall of Famer coached South Korea's Olympic squad in Brazil where LPGA veteran Park In-bee won her history-making gold medal.
LPGA veteran Seri Pak takes a memorial picture with her colleagues at a ceremony marking her retirement in Incheon.[Yonhap News Photo]
In March, the 39-year-old announced her LPGA retirement at the JTBC Founders Cup saying she would help young girls pursue their dreams.
At the age of 20 in 1988, she won her second major at the US Women's Open, inspiring a generation of girls including Park In-bee at home to pick golf clubs.
World No. 1 Lydia Ko, who was born in Seoul but raised in New Zealand, was one-year-old at that time. Her parents who watched Pak's feat on television decided to move to New Zealand for their daughter.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
