Korean golf sensation Pak Se-ri flirted with disaster in the closing stages of the LPGA Safeway PING Championship on Monday (KST) but kept her cool to sink two clutch putts on the last two holes and hold off compatriots Grace Park and Han Hee-won to claim her first title of the year.

Starting the fourth round three strokes behind leader Annika Sorenstam at the Moon Valley Country Club, Phoenix, Ariz., Pak scorched through the front nine in a hail of birdies and eagles, catching the Swede at the fourth and opening up a three-shot lead at the turn.

Sorenstam's frustrating afternoon saw her finish in a tie for third with France's Patricia Meunier-Lebouc and Korea's rising star Han, the LPGA's 2001 Rookie of the Year.

Pak, who has improved her putting beyond recognition in the last couple of seasons, took her foot off the gas on the back nine and the more conservative approach landed the 26 year old in hot water.

The 18th saw Pak sew up her win with a superb birdie, knocking her approach dead to within a foot-and-a-half and leaving Park with only the slimmest of chances of forcing a tie. The victory came with a check for US$150,000 and was Pak's 14th since joining the LPGA Tour in 1998.