Park Sung-hyun celebrates birthday with her role models

“Annika Sorenstam told me she controlled her wedge shots by one yard (about 91 centimeters). I think I have a long way to go.”

Saturday was a meaningful day for South Korean LPGA star Park Sung-hyun. She teamed up with Annika Sorenstam, a 72-time LPGA champion from Sweden, to compete at the Seolhaeone·Cell Return Legends Match at Seolhaeone Resort in Yangyang, Gangwon Province.

Park was a member of the team joined by current LPGA stars including Lee Min-jee, Lexi Thompson, and Ariya Jutanugarn. Another team was made up of the “LPGA Legends,” namely Pak Se-ri, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, and Juli Inkster. Each of them paired with a player from the other team for the foursome competition (in which players take turns hitting shots).

The team of Sorenstam and Park shot a 2-over 74 to win the competition. Ochoa-Jutanugarn finished one shot behind the winners, while Inkster-Lee shot 76 and Pak-Thompson carded an 81.

The four present LPGA stars played a skins game on Sunday (in which a player with the lowest score on the hole wins the skin). All four of them earned one skin until the 10th hole, but the match had to be rain-shortened due to heavy downpours brought on by typhoon. It was Lee Min-jee who won the skins game with 8 million won. Proceeds from the event, 100 million won, will be donated to help Gangwon Province’s recovery efforts from wildfires.

Especially for Park, whose birthday fell on Saturday, her fans and Sorenstam sang “Happy Birthday” at the 11th hole. The South Korean star golfer said that “it was the greatest birthday present of my life.”


Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com