Se Ri Pak wins title for fourth time

Se Ri Pak made some history at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic.

Pak became only the eighth player to win the same LPGA tournament four or more times, shooting an even-par 71 Sunday to finish at 13-under 271, and hold off Hee-Won Han and Marisa Baena by two shots.

It wasn't a vintage performance. Pak double-bogeyed the 16th hole to fall back into a tie with Han before taking command by chipping to 4 feet for a birdie on the par-5 17th. She was able to salvage par on the final hole to close out the win, worth $150,000.

As a rookie in 1998, Pak shot a 61 in the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic to set an LPGA scoring record that has only been exceeded by Annika Sörenstam 's 59 in 2001.

In addition to the 1998 Jamie Farr Kroger Classic, Pak also won the tournament in 1999 and 2001 to give her the title in four of the last six years.

She began the final round with a one-stroke lead over fellow South Korean Han, who won the Wendy's Championship for Children last week. Pak's lead doubled on the first hole when Han's drive went into the deep rough and she failed to reach the green with her next two shots. She chipped to 5 feet to save bogey.

Han, with eight top-10 finishes and a pair of wins in a breakthrough season, birdied the fifth and sixth holes to briefly pull into a tie with Pak at 13 under. Moments after Han hit a 10-foot birdie putt at the sixth hole, however, Pak dropped her own 8-foot birdie putt to retake the lead.

Pak then hit her third shot on the par-5 No. 7 to 18 inches and tapped in for another birdie to solidify her lead.

Playing steady if unspectacular golf, Pak strung together pars on the next six holes. Han's birdie at the par-3 14th hole, coupled with Pak's bogey, cut a three-shot lead to a single stroke. But on the very next hole, Pak salvaged a par while Han was bogeying and the lead was back to two shots again.

But that melted away at the par-4 16th where Pak posted a double-bogey to fall back into a tie with Han and just one shot ahead of Baena, who shot a closing 70 to finish at 11-under 273.

At the 17th, Pak was in the fairway with her drive and hit her second shot just short of the green into the left rough. She chipped up to 4 feet and rolled in the birdie putt that proved to be the difference.

On the last hole, also a par 5, Han hit her second shot behind an evergreen tree and in the deep rough right of the hole. She punched out short of the green and then fluffed her fourth shot, which also came up short. Then she nearly holed her 50-foot chip for par -- the ball coming to rest on the lip of the cup. She was 1 over for the final round.

Pak smiled and waved to the crowd after hugging her caddie and Han, whom she had chatted with in Korean while waiting on the tees of the par-3 holes.

The average finish was perhaps understandable, since Pak's day had begun at 7:24 a.m. when she reported to the 14th green to complete the third round, which had been suspended by lightning and heavy rain. Pak played those five holes in 1 over after playing the first 13 in 8 under.

Pak won for the third time this season, following victories at the Safeway and the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.

The victory was Pak's fifth in the state of Ohio, where she has placed in the top 10 in 12 of 17 starts and has won almost $1 million.

Pak moved past and into second place behind Sörenstam on the money list this year with more than $1.1 million. Sörenstam, who won the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic in 2000, skipped the tournament after playing last week in Sweden.

Baena's second-place finish was the best of her five full years on tour.

Heather Bowie's 66 moved her into a tie with Mi Hyun Kim (68) for fourth place at 10-under 274. Danielle Ammaccapane and Janice Moodie were another shot back at 275.

The last player to win the same tournament at least four times was Laura Davies, who captured the Standard Register PING in four straight years, 1994-97.

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