To Koreans, she is much more than a high-profile compatriot golfer. She was a shooting star who dominated the domestic field of women golfers as a high-school student and a pioneer who blazed the trail for Korean golfers on the international stage.

The day she clinched the U.S. Open in 1998 was the starting point of a fever among aspiring young girls in Korea to learn the sport. Inducted into the U.S. LPGA Hall of Fame, Pak Se-ri is now known as a living legend.

The veteran golfer, who has participated in domestic events occasionally since her 1998 U.S. LPGA Tour start, pleased her local fans with her victory Sunday. 

Pak held up the trophy at the KDB Daewoo Securities Classic 2012 on the Korean LPGA Tour in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. It was her first domestic triumph in nine years and four months after her last win in May 2003.

The gallery hailed her triumph as if a star actress had come back on screen after a long hiatus. The KDB Daewoo Securities title may be just one of her many victories: She has 25 U.S. and eight Korean LPGA Tour titles under her belt, including the latest tournament.

The trophy she won Sunday by beating her juniors, dubbed “Se-ri kids” who grew up trying to emulate her career, evokes flashbacks of a veteran golfer who climbed to the highest honor, then slid into a slump before coming back triumphant.

It must have been tough for the 35-year-old Pak to defeat the outstanding younger players, most about 10 years her junior, who have turned the domestic field into the league of their own. The runner-up of the KDB Daewoo classic, Heo Yoon-kyung, who fell three shots behind Pak, is 22 years old.

In 1998, her first year on the LPGA Tour was impressive with two major wins, including the U.S. Women’s Open. When Pak joined the LPGA in 1998, she was the only Korean player.

In 2008 she entered a slump, and Se-ri’s juniors started to take her place. She was slowly sliding into a lowly status of just the eldest sister among them.

Then, the pioneer of Korean women’s pro golf came back as a veteran who does not just silently fade away.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)