FILE PHOTO: Golf - LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship - First Round - Incheon, South Korea - 13/10/16. Pak Se-ri of South Korea waves to her fan on the eighteenth green. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
(Reuters) - World Golf Hall of Famer Pak Se-ri of South Korea will return to the LPGA in 2024 as tournament host of the March 21-24 event at Palos Verdes Golf Club in suburban Los Angeles, the circuit said on Tuesday.
Pak, who retired from the LPGA in 2016 after a decorated career that transformed the women's game, said it was an honor to be named host of the newly-renamed Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship.
"Mentoring the next generation of golfers and giving back to the game I love is at the core of everything I do," Pak said in an news release. "I'm excited to kick off this new partnership and elevate this tournament to new heights on the LPGA Tour."
Pak, who turned professional in 1996, sparked the South Korean revolution on the LPGA Tour by winning two majors in her 1998 rookie season.
Pak's career haul of 23 LPGA titles includes five majors.
Global investment firm Fir Hills entered a multi-year agreement with the LPGA as a tournament sponsor.
The tournament will feature a field of 144 of the world's best professional golfers competing for an elevated purse of $2 million, a $250,000 increase from 2023.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
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