Pak coasts to six shot win

Se Ri Pak struggled more with the pressure of playing in her homeland than she did with the cold and windy conditions at the Nine Bridges Classic.

Pak closed with an even-par 72 Sunday, beating Carin Koch by six strokes and easily winning her fifth tournament of the year.

The South Korean star finished at 3-under 213, while Koch had a 73 Sunday to wind up at 219. Annika Sorenstam's 76 left her nine shots back, ending her bid to set a record for tournament wins in a year.

"There was a lot of pressure," Pak said. "There is always a lot of pressure coming back to Korea to play golf. But I think I controlled myself well; I kind of just freed my mind and it feels really great to win this tournament."

Temperatures were in the 40s, with winds blowing at more than 15 mph.

"During the British open, the wind was bad, but not this bad," Pak said. "But you forget about the difficult moments when you win. I am so happy."

Pak's 18th victory on the LPGA Tour was worth $225,000. That boosts her earnings this year to $1,600,518, second only to Sorenstam's $2,467,404.

Pak plans to play the remaining three events of the year on the Tour.

"As for my goals, anybody that is human has unlimited goals. I would like to win all three tournaments. If not three, at least two. But I'm already very satisfied with my play this season and I want to finish the season well," she said.

Lorie Kane and Mhairi McKay finished third at 5 over, a stroke ahead of Sorenstam and Danielle Ammaccapane.

"I think it was tougher today than yesterday," Sorenstam said. "The wind was a little stronger, a little more gusty, and the temperature was much lower. So it was quite a tough day.

She was aiming to tie the tour record of 13 victories in a year, set by Mickey Wright in 1963. Sorenstam has nine.

"I've got a few more times to play and I can still have a great season and I've got many seasons to come so we'll see what happens," she added.

Pak bogeyed No. 2, but she picked up a birdie at No. 9. On the back nine, she erased bogeys at the 11th and 14th with birdies at Nos. 12 and 15.

The tournament was supposed to make its debut last year, but it was canceled because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

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