Inbee Park’s climb atop the medal podium at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio Saturday took her soaring to rarefied air, to a stratosphere only Se Ri Pak knows in a Korean nation that reveres women’s golf.
With a gold medal around her neck, with a victory rivaling Pak’s historic triumph at the U.S. Women’s Open 18 years ago, Park towered transcendentally.
Igniting nationalistic passions in ways Pak first did winning at Blackwolf Run, Park solidified her place in Korean sporting lore.
“Queenbee makes history at the Olympics” screamed a headline Sunday in the Korean Times.