INCHEON– South Korean golfer Park Min-ji, having dominated the domestic tour in recent years, hadn’t given much thought about taking her talent to America — until Monday.
It all changed when she found herself in the company of some of the biggest names that the LPGA Tour has seen.
Park, who has won 10 tournaments in the past two seasons on the Korea LPGA (KLPGA) Tour, was invited to take park in “Seri Pak World Match,” a charity match play event organized and hosted by its namesake legend, Pak Se-ri. Proceeds from the event will be donated to help environmental protection efforts and junior golf development programs, said Seri Pak Hope Foundation.
Park, 24, is one of six active players in action. They were each paired with LPGA legends for the match play: Pak, Annika Sorenstam, Laura Davies, Lorena Ochoa, Yani Tseng and Cristie Kerr.
“It’s a huge honor to be in the same place with these players. It’s exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time,” Park said at a press conference at Bears Best Cheonga Golf Club in Incheon, just west of Seoul. “I haven’t really thought about trying to make it to the LPGA Tour. But seeing these great players here has ignited a fire inside me. I am going to think long and hard about my future. I think this will be an important day for me.”
Park certainly has the talent to challenge herself on the world’s top women’s tour. She is the current KLPGA Tour money leader, on the strength of four victories. She was the KLPGA Player of the Year in 2021, when she led everyone with six titles and with over 1.5 billion won ($1.05 million) in earnings.
Park was paired with Ochoa, a former world No. 1 with 27 LPGA wins, including two majors.
“It’s great to see how much the game of golf has been growing for the last decade or so,” the Mexican legend said. “When I played here in Korea in the LPGA, I was always very impressed with how many fans were there. I know for sure I will have a good time today.”
Another Korean player in awe of the LPGA legends was Hwang You-min, the youngest of the bunch at 19. She ended up with the oldest player on Monday in the 58-year-old Laura Davies, who has 20 LPGA titles, including four majors, to her credit.
“I remember watching Laura on TV when I was at elementary school,” Hwang said. “It’s an honor to be playing with her. I am looking forward to learning so much from her and making this a meaningful day.”
Davies quipped, “I am the oldest so I probably play the worst.”
“Age is only a number, so someone had to be the youngest and someone had to be the oldest,” Davies said. “I don’t know her game yet but by the end of today, I am going to be very impressed.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency