"Seeing the players on the course, I still feel my heart beating. My dream came true."

Pak Se-ri, a legendary golfer who has won 25 titles in the LPGA tour, expressed her feelings as the host of the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, whose total prize money is 2 million dollars. The championship will be held at Palos Verdes Golf Club (par 71) near Los Angeles in the U.S. from March 21 to 24. “It’s been eight years since I retired, but it‘s exciting to see the players competing on the course during the season,” she said. “My goal was to create a tournament named after me, and my dream finally came true.”

Pak, who hosted the competition with the support of Fir Hills, a global investment company based in Silicon Valley, said, "I have worked hard for two years to make this competition happen. Through this competition, I want to give many opportunities to the players and instill dreams of the LPGA Tour to golfers playing in other countries."

“I won my first LPGA Tour title 27 years ago,” said Pak, who has helped pave the way for younger Korean golfers to make it to the U.S. “At that time, there were only four or five Asian players on the LPGA Tour, including those from Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia, and I’m happy and grateful that there are so many Asian players now.”

Her so-called “barefoot shot” at the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open, which left a strong impression on Korean people, was also recalled. ”I think it became a hot topic because of the fact that it was an 18-hole playoff and that when the ball fell on the hazard side and everyone thought it was over, but I went barefoot into the water and hit the shot and won,“ she said.

When asked about her contribution to golf in the future just as Tiger Woods, the U.S. golf superstar, who hosts his own tournaments in LA and running various businesses related to golf, Pak said, ”I‘m just getting started. I just took the first step. I want to do better than Tiger Woods in the future."