Pearl Sinn arrived on the LPGA Tour in 1991 after a highly decorated amateur career. In 1988, she won both the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship and the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, and represented the United States as a member of the Curtis Cup and World Cup teams. The three-time All-American at Arizona State University defended her U.S. Women's Am title in 1989. She won her first tournament as a professional at the 1998 State Farm Rail Classic. Competing as Pearl Sinn from 1991 to 2002, she married Greg Bonanni in 2002, and gave birth to daughter Madeline Joy Bonanni in 2003. Sinn-Bonanni, now 40, played in 17 LPGA Tour events in 2005, but did not return to the Tour this season. Here is what she had to say to Lisa D. Mickey in the latest installment of the site's "Whatever Happened To …" series.

Q: Are you now retired from the LPGA Tour?
PSB: Yes, but as you know, all players leave the tour open-ended. It was absolutely a family decision. My husband is a wealth management consultant and he can't just pack up his stuff and travel with me. And schlepping a child with me wasn't easy, either. A lot of players have had success with their families on the road, but I chose to come home.

Q: What are you involved in these days?
PSB: I'm consulting with a company in Los Angeles called Wasserman Media Group. It's one of the world's largest sports marketing companies and I'm here to help explore golf. I have some knowledge and 30 years of experience in golf, so I'm here to help them navigate. Another thing I've been involved in is working with the LPGA Tour on a consulting basis. The LPGA approached me last year and wanted me to help them with cultural issues with the Korean players. I found a language and culture instructor to travel with players and to meet with them on a weekly basis to work on their language skills. Most of them possess English skills, but they lack confidence in speaking, especially in front of TV. That was the main hurdle -- just helping them become more confident. My husband and I also run the Pearl Sinn-Bonanni Foundation. Its main objective is to reach out to underserved charities that deal in children's issues. Last year, we raised $100,000 and our recipient was a school in Orange County (Calif.) that serves learning-disabled children. This year, we want to raise $150,000 and our charity is the Ronald McDonald House of Los Angeles. We hold a two-day event that features a wine tasting and a pro-am tournament with 15 LPGA Tour players. Our web site is www.psbfoundation.org.

Q: Are there any parallels with what you do now and what you did as a tour player?
PSB: As a tour player, I lived a very structured life through schedules and goal setting. But I think everything you do as a touring pro on the golf course applies to business. There's preparation, goal setting, time management and determination to achieve certain goals. They are needed both in golf and in business.

Q: So how did you make the transition from tournament golf to the business world?
PSB: I've always been interested in the business end of golf. People talk to you about opportunities all the time. The right opportunity was here, so this is where I am now. Sometimes I look at the prize money on the tour and I think, "Oh my gosh, I want to go back out there." But I know it's time to move on. I probably left golf at the right time when women's golf is more important to these marketing companies and product sponsors. I dedicated my life to golf, but now, there is nothing that would satisfy me more than to see the LPGA considered as one of the major sports. I think it's getting there because now when I go to my club, people ask me, "What is Natalie [Gulbis] like? What's Michelle [Wie] like? " They know more about the tour and the players than they ever have.

Q: But isn't it a difficult transition to go from actually playing a sport to working with businesses interested in making deals about the sport and its participants?
PSB: A lot of players who leave the tour haven't figured out how to use their relationships. I think there are a lot more players out there who have more knowledge than I do, but they haven't figured out how to download what they know. We know golf, but now, this is the business end. We haven't been in the business world and don't have the resumes that a lot of corporate executives have, but we have a lot of knowledge and experiences that can be applied in business. We're still ambassadors for the LPGA Tour. And if we can prosper using a business focus, I'd hope the tour would embrace that.

Q: How would you describe your professional career?
PSB: There were more valleys than peaks. I think I underachieved. I was so focused as an amateur, but my life changed when I turned pro. I was fortunate to build solid relationships with great people, but performance-wise, I got very distracted. As an amateur, all I did was play golf and practice. I was distracted in my pro career, but still, I would have hated to play on the tour and walk away after 15 years with only a pension. I won a tournament and I had some good years. And I got a lot out of the game of golf that allowed me to do things in my community later.

Q: How would you describe your amateur career?
PSB: I'm proud to say I was one of the dominating players during those years. I came from one of the best college golf programs at Arizona State University and I came through the Southern California junior programs and the American Junior Golf Association [AJGA]. I knew what I was capable of doing, but life got in the way.

Q: In light of your amateur career, are you surprised you haven't won more than once on the LPGA Tour?
PSB: After a while, I just sort of accepted that. It wasn't about winning anymore. It was about making money. You're judged on how much money you make. I crossed the million-dollar mark when our purses weren't that large. My first year on tour at the 1991 Rail Charity Golf Classic [now called the State Farm Classic], the total purse was $300,000. That's what made me think about doing other things.

Q: What was your reaction when you finally won on the LPGA Tour at the 1998 State Farm Rail Classic?
PSB: I just sat down and started crying. I was relieved because it had been a long time coming. I had expected to win and it was a relief when I finally did.

Q: How did you get started in golf?
PSB: My dad was a good amateur player and he taught me how to play when I was 9 years old, even though I've been around golf since I was 4. I was a figure skater, but when we moved to Southern California from Korea, there weren't that many ice rinks.

Q: You were born in South Korea, but how long did you live there and when did you move to California?
PSB: We moved to Southern California when I was 9. My dad was in real estate. At that time, it wasn't an open market in Korea. So my mom, dad, sister and I moved to Southern California. My parents bought a restaurant business on a golf course and a house across the street from the golf course, which was the Bellflower Golf & Tennis Center in Bellflower, Calif. -- a suburb of L.A. I didn't speak much English, but I could go to the golf course and play with my dad.

Q: Did you continue to observe the traditional Korean customs at home?
PSB: We became Californians very quickly. I was the only Korean player in junior golf and California junior golf at the time, but it wasn't hard at all because everybody was so accepting and embracing. I remember we were in Florida and my dad lost his credit card. People just gave us money.

Q: So are you a dual-citizen? You were able to represent the United States in the Curtis Cup.
PSB: No. We had the opportunity to become American Citizens when I was 14. My family said, "We live here, we work here, we earn our living here. Let's become American citizens." In golf, there also were more opportunities here as an American player. I do feel Korean, but I feel American, too.

Q: How different are the two cultures?
PSB: They are completely opposite. But I think wherever you are, that's the culture you adopt and respect. I have no problems adjusting to those things. You have to ask yourself, "What is my ultimate goal here?"

Q: But do you ever feel stuck in the middle between Eastern and Western ways?
PSB: No, because I'm not in the middle. I try to adapt to where I am. I don't play the middle game.

Q: Why do you think Korean players have been so successful in women's golf?
PSB: I think the sport itself and the Korean culture go hand-in-hand. Golf is a stoic and self-controlling sort of sport and that's what the Korean culture sort of embodies. Historically, Koreans have practiced self-control and dedication to one focus and most Koreans are introverted, which is perfect for golf. Also, I think the success has something to do with the history of Korea. Korea is a peninsula. It's a prime entry point to all of Asia and it has been invaded by the Japanese, the Mongolians and other Asians. So people are fighters in Korea and have been for many, many years. You can't take away a legacy from a culture. Once Korean people set their minds to doing something, they stick to it and complete it.

Q: Why is the game of golf such a big deal to Koreans? Why not other sports?
PSB: I think that's another cultural thing. People are always upwardly striving. Over there, it's always about striving for something. Golf is a sport for the elite and not everybody can do it. If you do, you have sort of "arrived."

Q: Do you think you would have won more if you had come along a little later with the current wave of Korean talent?
PSB: At the end, it doesn't matter. Golf is a business now. I went out there on tour because all of my friends were out there. Even if you were a top player, there wasn't a lot of money in it. It was just the natural progression of your development in golf to go from amateur golf to college golf to professional golf. Now, it's a profession, more than just a progression.

Q: You preceded Se Ri Pak on the LPGA Tour, but were you the only Korean player on the LPGA Tour in 1991?
PSB: Ok-Hee Ku was here briefly, but she went back to Japan to play on the JLPGA. She was a real pioneer in women's golf for Korea. She was so much older than I was, and culturally, younger Korean players don't approach older players. There was an age gap between us. I regret that I didn't have a closer relationship with her. But since the days of Ok-Hee Ku, we have reached out to Se Ri and to Grace [Park] to get them to help us with the younger Korean players. The idea was to get them on board to help guide and lead the younger ones.

Q: Because the Korean players have been so successful on the LPGA and Duramed FUTURES Tours, do you think that has created any "us vs. them" attitudes in women's golf?
PSB: Yes, at first. With the first influx of Koreans, there was some of that. But most players now realize we're a world tour and a lot of the LPGA's current financial opportunities are coming from Asia. I think there are less of those attitudes now.

Q: What can the Korean players do to be more accepted here?
PSB: Learn the language. Any country you go to, if you can reach out through language, that's huge. You have to learn how to meet and greet. When you can't communicate with each other, you're going to have a lot of misunderstandings. Koreans really need to reach out and accept American culture a little bit.

Q: When and where did you meet your husband, Greg Bonanni?
PSB: I was working with instructor David Leadbetter at the time and he sent one of his assistant instructors up to New York to work with me who happened to be one of Greg's best friends. He brought Greg to a pro-am party and we hit it off on a business level. Greg managed my money for a year and we communicated by phone and e-mails. Basically, we kept in touch through my monthly financial reports. The next year at the tournament [in New Rochelle, N.Y.], we met again and hit it off a different way.

Q: So now you have both Korean and Italian customs?
PSB: Yes and it's great. Greg is from an all-Italian family from New York with a deeply embedded culture -- just like how the Korean culture is in my family. So, we enjoy all the Italian Christmas traditions in New York, and the Asian New Year celebrations in L.A. I would hate to think I would have lived my life just knowing one way of doing things. Now, I can show my daughter the Korean, Italian, American and even Californian cultures as she grows up.

Q: How do you like being a mom?
PSB: I love being a mom. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done. My mom was always a doting mom. Now, I completely understand it.

Q: How hard is it to play professional golf as a mom?
PSB: I didn't do it very well. I tried it for two years and I didn't get enough sleep. Plus, there's never enough time for golf, or for the child, or for your family when you're on tour.

Q: Did golf teach you the patience to be a mom?
PSB: Golf didn't teach me patience to be a mom. Having a child taught me patience to be a golfer.

Q: Now that your life has taken a different direction, what are your current goals?
PSB: I'd like to remain closely tied to golf. It's my passion and it's what I know best. I'll try to figure out a way to do that. I'd also like to have another child. My most immediate goal is to carve out some time to play golf again just to keep the level of my game up. It would be a shame to play golf for 30 years and just stop. I think I've played golf three times in the last year. Plus, I can join the Legends Tour in five years and could play a little with them. I don't want to play 30 weeks on tour again -- just a few tournaments every now and then.

Q: So, stemming from those early days when you first came to California, how would you describe the road your life has taken?
PSB: I never set out a road map for my life. I've just enjoyed every moment of it. I'm still involved in women's golf and this is a new challenge for me. But I know how to overcome challenges and be successful at it.

Story by Lisa D. Mickey. Mickey is a former senior editor at the Golf Digest Company, where she covered the LPGA Tour for Golf World and Golf For Women magazines. She is a co-author of “Champions of Women's Golf: Celebrating 50 Years of LPGA Golf” (2000) and was a contributing writer of The Solheim Cup coffee-table edition book (2005). She currently writes the web stories for and serves as director of communications for the Duramed FUTURES Tour.