Se Ri Pak is three shots ahead of last year's pace when she won the U.S. Women's Open.

But Pak is anything but a seasoned veteran. She is just 21 years old, working hard to improve her English and impress the masses back home in South Korea. Both are daunting tasks.

Pak is making a game attempt at defending her U.S. Women's Open title this week at Old Waverly Golf Club, where she shot a 2-under 70 on Friday to remain within sight of the leaders, just four behind Juli Inkster and Lorie Kane.

And yet, it is one of the few times she's even sniffed the lead on the weekend this year.

The four victories Pak captured in a record-setting rookie season remain her total today.

She expected another by now. But it didn't come toward the end of last year, when Pak was so physically and emotionally drained that she landed in a South Korean hospital during a whirlwind trip home.

And it has not come so far this year, when Pak has been a non-factor. She has not been a contender during the final round of any of her 11 tournaments, her best finish a tie for 11th. Pak has failed to crack the top 20 in her past three starts.

"I know people expect a lot from me," Pak said. "I just try to do my best. I am still learning. Still learning the golf courses, still learning how to play."

If there is one thing Pak learned the hard way, it is that so many demands on her time were not good for her golf game. She fired her coach, noted swing guru David Leadbetter, who she said wasn't around enough; he claimed she didn't want to practice. She also fired her manager, Steven Kil, and replaced him with the International Management Group.

Pak has settled into a home in Orlando and appears to be more at ease, even if her golf game has yet to respond this year.

"She needs to have breathing room because she's not going to be perfect all the time," said Lopez, the LPGA Hall of Famer who has provided counseling to Pak. "After winning some majors last year, playing as well as she did, now it's expected that she's going to do that all the time. It's just not going to happen all the time.

"She's the type of player who can play great golf for many, many years. She can deal with the pressure on the outside. I've sat and talked with her many times. She's the type of player who can overcome anything with her golf game."

Lopez gave Pak some key advice: learn to say no.

"I just need some time," Pak said. "I don't want to be in a hurry right now. The other players are trying their best every week. They want to win, too."

Pak's two major championship victories and four total made her one of the biggest stories in golf last year. It also made it easy to remember what she had to overcome.

Moving to a new country where she was unfamiliar with the people and their culture, playing golf on courses she did not know, trying to communicate through a language barrier. None of it stopped her from being named LPGA rookie of the year.

Pak, however, has a long way to go, as she readily points out. Even last year during the Women's Open, after she missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole that would have won the tournament, Pak quickly composed herself to get ready for a sudden-death playoff.

One problem: The tournament breaks its ties with an 18-hole playoff the following day. Pak did not realize that until her caddie, Jeff Cable, explained the process to her. "You mean, I have to play this difficult golf course again?" she recalled saying, in mock amazement.

Pak went on to capture that playoff in 20 holes over amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn, and her life was never the same.

She followed that performance by setting the LPGA's all-time 72-hole scoring record in winning the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic. She added another victory at the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic. Of her four wins, two were major championships and she finished second on the money list to Annika Sorenstam with $872,170.

It was the best LPGA debut since Lopez won nine tournaments as a rookie in 1978.

But with that success came a price.

"When I won once, people at home expected me to win again," Pak said. "When I won the fourth time, they asked me why I haven't won the fifth time. Golf isn't like that."

Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online.