Drive to succeed

Poster girl

Kim, 27, is just one of the South Koreans to follow in the footsteps of Pak Se-ri, who won the 1998 US Open aged 20 in her rookie LPGA season, becoming the first Asian to win the oldest women's major.

Pak became the poster girl for a Korean golfing boom, paving a "glittering golden path for an entire generation of young Korean golfers", said Spencer Robinson, chief representative at the Singapore-based Asian Golf Industry Federation.

Her victory－including a barefoot shot from the water that contrasted her pale feet against her suntanned legs, a testament to endless hours of practice－made her a national hero as the country reeled from the Asian financial crisis.

In a culture where success in international sporting competition is celebrated as symbolizing national power, Pak claimed the order of merit title that year and went on to win four more LPGA majors.

"If it wasn't for her, we would not have even recognized there was a career path in the US LPGA," Kim said. "She is a trailblazer."

When she was young, Pak's father reportedly took her to cemeteries in the dead of night to practice her swing next to the graves to toughen her up.

Pak later denied it ever happened, but that did not stop others being inspired by what was seen as the secret to her success, including former world No 1 Park In-bee.

Regardless of the truth of the story, Pak's father's "grueling training regimens instilled in her a deep sense of discipline alien to Westerners", said Robinson.

"Those methods proved a winning template that has been unashamedly mimicked by Korean parents," he added. "The many dozens of Korean females who have become golfing multimillionaires... owe a huge debt of gratitude to Pak."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE