Obscured Pak Takes Early Lead at LPGA Season-Ender

Better hold up a minute before you start that coronation music. While the LPGA’s season-ending PageNet Championship is supposed to settle the dispute between Karrie Webb and Juli Inkster about who will be the richest (not to mention best) player this year, it seems as if everybody forgot about Se Ri Pak.

Does that name sound familiar? Last year’s sensation as a rookie, when she won two majors, Pak was knocking in birdies from all over Las Vegas Boulevard--five in a seven-hole stretch--wound up with a six-under-par 66 Thursday and the first-round lead in the tournament with the $1-million purse at the Desert Inn.

Pak’s lead is small, only one shot over Janice Moodie, but it’s significant . . . basically because she’s on top and neither Webb nor Inkster is.

Webb and Inkster are running visor-to-visor in the race for most of the LPGA’s top honors, including player of the year, the money title and the Vare Trophy for the best scoring average. So while they have been drawing nearly all the attention, Pak has been sort of ignored.

“Maybe,” said Pak, who moved from her native South Korea to the United States in 1997. “Now looking at this year, [Webb and Inkster] play so good and so strong. I don’t mind. Just trying to follow them. Just second year for me. Still pretty new.

“I just want to play good. Sometimes works, sometimes no work.”

It was working in the first round. One under through nine holes, Pak birdied No. 10 from seven feet, Nos. 12 and 14 from eight feet, two-putted from 30 feet for birdie at No. 15 and made another eight-footer for birdie on No. 16.

Webb said she wouldn’t be shocked if Pak won on Sunday.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see anybody win,” Webb said.

The surprise issue thus covered, Webb went on to say Pak has one of the top games on tour.

Meanwhile, the rest of the field took off in search of the $210,000 winner’s check. Moodie rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole to finish at 67, one shot better than Webb, Kelly Robbins and Lorie Kane.

Inkster played the back side in one over and turned in a 70 that was better than it appeared since she was recovering from food poisoning the night before.

Robbins made her case with two monster putts on the back side. On No. 10, she two-putted from 90 feet for birdie, but she was even better at No. 18, where she rolled in an 80-footer for birdie.

“I’m glad it hit the hole,” Robbins said.

Moodie birdied three of the last four holes and said the greens were holding up well, which was also what Pak discovered. But then she also has the right philosophy.

“Just every hole, I do my best,” she said.

Webb’s 68 kept her on track to set an LPGA record for the best scoring average in history. She began the tournament at 69.45 and needed to shoot four rounds of no worse than 81 to set the record.

“Obviously, now I can shoot an 85 one day,” Webb said.

Even though she is close to guaranteeing herself all three of the major awards, Webb isn’t taking anything for granted.

“I’m not really thinking about that,” she said. “Whatever happens, happens.”

And there are 54 more holes left for it to happen.