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SLEEPING IN CEMETERIES and working out barefoot in the snow isn't the typical path toward becoming a professional golfer. But not much in the life of 29-year-old South Korean Se Ri Pak has been conventional.

Growing up in Taejon, South Korea, Pak's middle-class family struggled to help her thrive in a sport dominated by the rich. At age 15, when Pak competed at South Korea's Golf Digest Cup — a prestigious amateur tournament — she and her family were snubbed by the wealthy families traditionally seen at elite golfing events.

But Pak won the event and launched a career that golfers around the world are now desperate to emulate. To date, Pak has won nearly $9.3 million in golf competitions alone, placing her fourth in the Ladies Pro Golfing Association (LPGA) career earning rankings. In fact, by 2004, Pak had already secured enough wins to join the LPGA and World Golf hall of fame, but per regulations couldn't enter until competing in 10 seasons' worth of tournaments — a mark she'll pass in June. Induction in November will make her the hall's youngest inductee.

"I'm doing OK out there — not great, but better and better," Pak modestly explained recently, fresh from a practice round for the Sybase Classic at the Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J. (She went on to place third, netting $93,198 and boosting her 2007 earnings to $298,512.).

And Pak is certainly not being shunned anymore. Multimillion-dollar sponsorship agreements with Samsung Group and CJ Corp., its food- and pharmaceuticals-producing affiliate, have earned her approximately $10 million to date. When back in South Korea, Pak is an A-list celebrity: Children's books have been written about her, she's chased by paparazzi, and in 1996 South Korea's president, Kim Dae Jung, crowned her a "national hero."

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But perhaps most tellingly, parents are now taking their daughters to practice at the same courses she did, and train using Pak's father's signature techniques of sleeping in graveyards (to develop fearlessness) and working out barefoot in the snow (for mental strength). Back in 1997, Pak was the first South Korean to make America's LPGA Tour. Today, there are 45. In fact, this year's 14 South Korean rookies outnumber U.S. rookies by two. "I've given them the confidence to come out here," she says. "I think of them like my sisters. They're here for their own dreams, and I'm really proud of them."

Pak's unconventional background has made her a fascinating competitor to watch. In 1998, during her rookie year, Pak famously declined to take a penalty shot, instead peeling off her shoes and socks and wading into chilly, calf-deep water to whack her stray ball back into play. That shot led her to win the U.S. Women's Open, the first of two majors she won that season, earning her the LPGA's Rookie of the Year award.

Pak's unique shots aren't her only on-course quirk. While most players are decked out in bland collared shirts and knee-length pants, Pak been known to wear fashionable white Capri pants with four buckles on each hip, a sleeveless black top, black hat and dangling four-stone diamond earrings — all designed by her older sister, Yoo Ri. The two are preparing a marketing and manufacturing plan to debut the line online later this year.

When it comes to her earnings, however, Pak is conservative. "I really have always been careful with my own money," she says. "It can be so hard to make it; I don't want to waste any of it. I want my future off the golf course to be another, better life to look forward to."

See Below: Money Q&A With Se Ri Pak

Growing up, Pak's family was driven close to bankruptcy as her family scraped together the money needed for Pak to travel to tournaments and perform competitively. During the 1980s, only one of the more than 130 courses was open to the public, making the crowded course nearly impossible for practice. But after Pak won her first junior event at age 14, her father scraped together $200,000 from his small construction business to purchase a one-year membership at a private club. "My parents didn't talk about the money," recalls Pak. But the lesson came through loud and clear. "I always thought to save as much money as I could. I don't want to spend at all. I just like to keep it."

Pak qualified for the LPGA on her first try in 1997, and prepared for a move to the U.S. As she learned English, Pak retained translators to ensure she didn't miss a thing during business and financial meetings. (She eschewed them on the course, preferring to make her own way there.) "I didn't know how to speak English, but I knew how I wanted to spend my money," she says. "I always want to be there when they talk about it."

The first to admit she doesn't know much about finances, Pak also hired a management company to take care of her investments. She bought her first house in 1999 — a condo in Orlando's Phillips Landing, a gated community popular among celebrities — on the management company's advice. "They recommended it as a way to save more," she says. "I lived there for a couple of years, and then moved to Malibu and bought a bigger house, and then another house. Every year a little more, a little better." Pak currently splits her off-season time between a five-bedroom home in Orlando, and a three-bedroom home on Palm Springs' Bighorn Golf Club.

Pak isn't sure how most of her money is invested. "I don't know much about stocks," she says. "I just know that I like the company and I want to have it. I'm always looking to try to find out if it's a good or bad deal. Then my agents find out if it's really worth it."

Injuries to her neck, shoulder, lower back and finger sidelined Pak for most of the 2005 season, forcing her to examine how well she'd invested as she lived off her savings and recovered. "I was consistently making about the same every year, and that one year, it was the first time ever — nothing," she says. "It was a little bit of a hard time adjusting. I have such a great career that it really didn't make much of a dent," she adds. She returned in 2006 to win her fifth career major and replenish her savings with $884,961 in winnings.

Pak is also thinking about retirement, despite her young age. "Right now, I can't tell exactly how many more years I'll be playing, but I'm not going to play forever," she says. "I'm just planning for my future, because I really want to be a business career woman."

Her next move: A U.S. golf academy for young women. "I've been planning for the last couple of years, talking to investors," says the ever-cautious Pak. No word yet on whether the girls will be leaving their snow boots at home.

Money Q&A With Se Ri Pak
My first job was: Golfing. I won my first amateur tournament when I was 14.
Are you a spender or a saver? Saver. I want to keep my money safe so I can have a good future, after golf.

I knew I'd succeeded financially when: I turned pro.

The last purchase of $10,000 or more that I made: I gave at least that much last year to children's hospitals and charities in South Korea.

The one thing I regretted buying: Starbucks and Panera Bread stock [at their peak]. Worst mistake I ever made.

Always buy the best: House. You're not making tons of money as an investment, but you're saving at the same time.

Always buy the cheapest: Generic groceries. I'm always looking at what they put on the labels. If both are exactly the same product, why spend the extra money?

When it comes to investing, I'm: Slightly aggressive. I'm not trying to make too much, but I'll stay there as long as I'm making something.

My biggest money indulgence: Diamond jewelry. When you go to jewelry shop, and right away when you walk in you see some earrings or necklace or bracelet you like, you can't really walk away from that.

What's the best money advice you've ever received? Save as much as you can.

What's the best money advice you can offer? Never invest more than you can afford to lose.