Pak Becomes The Second Player To Join The Esteemed 32-player Field Vying For A $1 Million Winner’s Prize
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 12, 2006 – South Korean Se Ri Pak has qualified for the ADT Championship by virtue of her one-hole playoff victory at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola, joining Karrie Webb as the second player in the first-class, 32-player field. The ADT Championship will be hosted at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 16-19, 2006.
The 28-year-old Pak, who is slated to be inducted into the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame next year, captured her 23rd LPGA title, fifth career major and third McDonald’s LPGA Championship with a birdie on the only playoff hole.
After three-putting the last hole of regulation for bogey to finish at 8-under-par 280 and drop into the playoff with Webb — who had already won the first two events that led to ADT Championship qualification (the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill) — Pak redeemed herself at the par-4, 385-yard 18th hole moments later when she came within inches of holing out for eagle from 201 yards with a 4-iron. Her tap-in putt, which followed Webb’s missed putt from 20 feet, ran her all-time LPGA playoff record to 5-0 and sealed her inclusion into the ADT Championship.
The victory was Pak’s first LPGA win in over two years, a span in which Pak was beset by injuries to her neck, shoulder and lower back and finger. The finger injury at the Weetabix Women’s British Open sidelined Pak for the rest of the season, but it served as a break from mental fatigue for the 1998 Rookie of the Year and 2003 Vare Trophy winner.
Pak’s victory prompted a 34-spot climb up the ADT Official Money List to No. 12 ($373,515) and a boost to No. 19 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Pak won her first two majors in 1998, then two more, to go with two runner-up finishes, from 2001-03.
"It was really fun. You see me jumping around everywhere. First time I jumped on the golf course," Pak said after hitting Sunday’s playoff-clinching 4-iron. "I very much enjoyed it all day long. I tell my caddy, I said, ‘You know what, no matter what, what result, I won or not, I’m still really happy to be in this position.’ Totally feels like I’m back, and that my game right now has more consistency."
Winners of major events on the 2006 LPGA Tour schedule automatically secure a spot for the season-ending ADT Championship, which features the first-ever $1 million winner’s paycheck on the LPGA. The remaining LPGA members finishing in the top-20 (including ties) receive double points toward the race to secure one of the 13 remaining spots in the first half of the season. The first half of the LPGA Playoffs 2006 wraps up July 16 at the conclusion of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger.
Between now and then, two more golfers can qualify for the ADT Championship via victories at the U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA and at the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship. When the second-half of the LPGA Playoffs 2006 begins July 26 at the Evian Masters, all point totals will be cleared to begin anew for the chance to fill an additional 15 second-half spots.
Two additional players will qualify via wildcards to round out the 32-player field. The wildcards will go to the top two players from the ADT Official Money List on Oct. 15 before the Global Group events (CJ Nine Bridges Classic presented by SEMA Sports and Mizuno Classic) who are not otherwise qualified.
The ADT Championship will be played in the following format (a sudden-death playoff will be used at the end of each round in the event of a tie): the first cut will be after 36 holes to 16 players; the second cut will be after 54 holes to eight players (scores are cumulative through 54 holes). The final round will be played in four groups of two, with all players starting with a fresh scorecard. Whoever shoots the lowest score in the final round will win the ADT Championship and $1 million.
In addition to Pak and Webb, the following players would be eligible to qualify for the ADT Championship based on the accumulation of first-half ADT points (through the McDonald’s LPGA Championship):
Lorena Ochoa 416
Cristie Kerr 319
Annika Sorenstam 290
Seon Hwa Lee 290
Hee-Won Han 278
Juli Inkster 262
Mi Hyun Kim 238
Jeong Jang 208
Paula Creamer 201
Natalie Gulbis 200
Pat Hurst 177
Meena Lee 162
Morgan Pressel 138
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