Ohio Golf Journal July 2020

that same level of success. Looking at the current Rolex World Ranking, four Korean women are ranked inside the top 10, plus they account for eight of the top 20 women golfers. Inbee Park was one of those young women that emulated Se Ri and vowed to practice harder to make her ownmark on golf. She has done just that with 20 LPGA Tour titles, including seven major championships. Park also won the first Olympic GoldMedal awarded in golf at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. USGA Bob Jones Award is the highest honor the USGA can bestow and recognizes distinguished sportsmanship in the game of golf. It includes an illustrious group of former winners, Francis Ouimet, Babe Zaharias, Patty Berg, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam. This year the USGA has announced it will award the 2020 Bob Jones award to Se Ri Pak. In the announcement the USGA said, “Se Ri Pak took golf to new heights during her 20- year professional career and inspired an entire generation with her U.S. Women’s Open victory in 1998. Her character, sportsmanship and generosity, combined with her accomplishments on the course, left an enduring impact on the game.” Se Ri Pak has indeed been an inspiration in golf. In Ohio, we knew that a long time ago. We had the pleasure of watching her dominate the competition, when she won the 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2007 Marathon Classics.