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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 10, 1997Se Ri PakNORTH PLAINS, OREGON RHONDA GLENN: For the broadcasters, her name is pronounced Se Ri Pak. She shot 68 today, 3-under par. Se Ri is from Korea and she uses an interpreter, so he will help us out. We would like for Se Ri to give her overall impressions of her round today. SE RI PAK: As the first round today, the condition of the course was perfect for her, so she really had a good feeling today. RHONDA GLENN: If she could tell us about her bogeys and her birdies, how the bogeys happened, like the one on No. 2, and then we can just go over bogeys and birdies. SE RI PAK: The second hole she had a bogey. An iron shot, she didn't have a good feeling on that, and a long putter, it was a 3-putter. RHONDA GLENN: The 6th hole. SE RI PAK: She had a good drive tee off and even though second shot or first shot wasn't good lie, but she hit it very well, and one putting so she got the birdie. RHONDA GLENN: What club? SE RI PAK: Pitching wedge. RHONDA GLENN: How long was the putt? SE RI PAK: 2.5 meters, so I guess it's going to be, what? RHONDA GLENN: That's about 7-and-a-half feet. No. 8? SE RI PAK: Even though the driver shot was a little high, because she hit the top portion of the ball, and second shot she used a 9-iron, and the distance was correct, so she had a good feeling on putting that, into the putting. RHONDA GLENN: How long was the putt? SE RI PAK: Less than one foot. RHONDA GLENN: No. 9? SE RI PAK: A driver landed on the left side, and it was kind of a rough side. And she used the pitching wedge. And it landed about four meters from the pin, and she had a good feeling on putting, so she made a birdie. RHONDA GLENN: About 12 feet, then. No. 12, birdie? SE RI PAK: She worried about the wind, also on the par-3, she used the 9-iron, about two feet. RHONDA GLENN: 13, a bogey. SE RI PAK: Par-4, the driver landed on the left side of the fairway. And an iron, she doesn't remember which iron she used, but it was not on the green. And she had -- near the green, not on the green, but she had -- she did a 2-putt. RHONDA GLENN: Missed the green and couldn't get down in two? SE RI PAK: Yes. RHONDA GLENN: No. 14, a birdie. SE RI PAK: She hit the driver, and unfortunately hit the cover of a sprinkler and landed on the right-hand side of the rough, very difficult shot. She used a 9-iron and fortunately got on the green, left her about 12 feet downhill, and she did a one putt, so she made a birdie. RHONDA GLENN: You're a very long hitter. How far does she hit her tee shots? SE RI PAK: Tee shot, her average is about 265. RHONDA GLENN: She's a student of David Leadbetter. Any questions? Q. If you could talk first round of your first U.S. Open, was it better than you expected it might go? SE RI PAK: This is her first major tournament in this country. Before this tournament, she had a couple of tournaments in the United States, I guess three tournaments already, but because the U.S. Open has all the top caliber players, playing in the U.S. Open she feels, with those players, she has confidence that she can play with them. And she can learn a lot of things from them. RHONDA GLENN: Are you a member of the LPGA? SE RI PAK: Not yet. She'll go to qualifying school in October. RHONDA GLENN: She's a member of the -- SE RI PAK: KLPGA. RHONDA GLENN: Was Rookie-of-the-Year and won five tournaments. SE RI PAK: She turned pro in April of 1996, she played 12 tournaments, won five games, finished at second six times, and last one she finished at 6th. So quite a carrier. RHONDA GLENN: Certainly a good record. She went into sectional qualifying. SE RI PAK: Yes, after Minneapolis and that following Monday she played qualifying. Q. I'd like to ask a question in Korean. I have two questions. He'd like to know the feeling of beginning of the first tee. And after 3-under, what's the feeling? SE RI PAK: At the beginning of the -- when she went on the first tee, she really didn't -- she doesn't want to be greedy. She just wants to do her best, was her thought. She was going through the whole 18 holes. She had sort of a sense of she felt very comfortable on the course and all the shots went in the direction that she thought, landed well. And then she got greedy. Q. You missed many short putts today. What's the strategy for tomorrow? SE RI PAK: I know that today I made a lot of short putts. Hopefully tomorrow she'll -- because through that, she knows that she made mistakes, because very difficult to read a green on those short putts that she missed. Hopefully tomorrow she'll make out on those putts. Q. What has been your biggest adjustment playing in the United States? SE RI PAK: Well, because the difficulty of the courses here and some South Korea, coming to this country she knows there's a lot of good players playing here. And also finding out there are many players that have self-confidence in this country. So she's having more confidence in herself. Q. Does she work with any other instructor other than Leadbetter? SE RI PAK: No, only Leadbetter. He doesn't have much time. Hopefully he'll have more time. Q. I was curious, as well as you played today and as great as you played, was there any disappointment that the last putt didn't drop and you didn't have a share of the lead? SE RI PAK: She doesn't feel anything upsets her. Her goal is to play well on this course and also we have three rounds to go. So she'll be ready. RHONDA GLENN: Did you play in the Women's Amateur here in the United States at the country club two years ago? SE RI PAK: She did. RHONDA GLENN: Semifinalist? SE RI PAK: Semifinalist. RHONDA GLENN: I thought so. I thought we recognized you. Good to see you back. She was a semifinalist in the United States Women's Amateur two years ago at the country club when Kelli Kuehne won her first Women's Amateur. And did you lose to Kelli Kuehne. SE RI PAK: Yes, Kelli Kuehne won. RHONDA GLENN: Do you remember the margin of the match? SE RI PAK: She was four behind. RHONDA GLENN: Four and three? SE RI PAK: Right. RHONDA GLENN: I'll look that up. I thought you might recall. One other question about adjusting to life over here, the food, the traffic, things like that. What's been the biggest adjustment in that way. SE RI PAK: She loves American food, but problem is the health club. She has a personal trainer. He really doesn't want her to eat Pizza Hut or Subway; that's bad. But she doesn't have any problem in this country, but she feels much more comfortable playing in this country, because she can learn a lot and she enjoys playing golf in this country. RHONDA GLENN: What's your favorite food. SE RI PAK: Pasta. We had lunch pasta today. Q. Are you learning English now? SE RI PAK: She learns twice a week, two hours per day. But as soon as we finish at qualifying school, she'll be having it three times a day, three hours per day. Q. In a school? SE RI PAK: No, she isn't golf course to any school; just wants to be a student of David Leadbetter. RHONDA GLENN: Do you have a sponsor. SE RI PAK: Samsung. RHONDA GLENN: What kind of company is that. SE RI PAK: Samsung makes all the semiconductors, TV, you name it. Q. How big a star are you in Korea? Are you like Ayako Okamoto in Japan to Korea? SE RI PAK: In Korea we call it Se Ri syndrome. So probably much more than Ayako Okamoto in Japan. Super Se Ri. RHONDA GLENN: Is it difficult for you to go to public places in Korea because of your fame. SE RI PAK: Yes, very difficult for her going to public places. RHONDA GLENN: What is her comment on that? SE RI PAK: Yeah, very difficult. RHONDA GLENN: Se Ri, thank you so much. Congratulations. It's nice to have you back. End of FastScripts.... |
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