Grace Park (golfer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | March 6, 1979 Seoul, South Korea |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Nationality |  South Korea |
| Residence | Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. |
| College | Arizona State University Ewha Womans University |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 1999 |
| Current tour | LPGA Tour (joined 2000) |
| Past tour | Futures Tour (1999) |
| Professional wins | 11 (LPGA Tour 6; Futures Tour 5) |
| Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 1 |
|
| Kraft Nabisco | Won 2004 |
| LPGA Championship | 2nd: 2003 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T6: 2000 |
| Women's British Open | T3: 2003 |
| Awards | |
| Golfweek College Player of the Year |
1998 |
| Vare Trophy | 2004 |
Grace Park was born Park Ji-eun on March 6, 1979 in Seoul, South Korea, and is a professional golfer on the LPGA Tour.
Contents |
[edit] Amateur career
She moved to Hawaii at the age of 12, and then to Arizona. She received the 1996 Dial Award as top female high-school scholar-athlete in the United States. She attended Arizona State University and graduated from Ewha Womans University in 2003.
Park had an outstanding amateur career in the United States being Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 1994 and 1996,[1] winning most major amateur championships in 1998 including the United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship, and tying for eighth as an amateur in the 1999 U.S. Women's Open.
[edit] Professional career
Park turned professional in 1999 and decided to play on the Futures Tour instead of taking exemptions to LPGA tournaments. She won five of the ten tournaments she entered and became one of the first three golfers to gain automatic LPGA Tour exempt status by finishing top of the money list.[2] She was named Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year.[3]
She won at least one LPGA tournament in each season from 2000 to 2004, including her first major, the 2004 Kraft Nabisco Championship. 2005 and 2006 were difficult years for Park as she suffered from back and neck injuries.
The Boston Globe has described Park as "the striking beauty, the tall and proud walk, the dazzling smile" and she has attracted sponsorship from Nike and Rolex.
[edit] Professional wins (11)
[edit] Futures Tour (5)
- 1999 (5) Betty Puskar FUTURES Golf Classic, YWCA Briarwood FUTURES Open, SmartSpikes FUTURES Classic, Carolina National FUTURES Classic, Greater Lima FUTURES Open
[edit] LPGA Tour (6)
- 2000 (1) Kathy Ireland Greens.com LPGA Classic
- 2001 (1) Office Depot Championship
- 2002 (1) CISCO World Ladies Match Play Championship
- 2003 (1) Michelob Light Open at Kingsmill
- 2004 (2) Kraft Nabisco Championship, CJ Nine Bridges Classic
LPGA Majors are shown in bold.
[edit] Results in LPGA majors
| Tournament | 1995 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | CUT | CUT | 23 | T39 | DNP |
| LPGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT |
| U.S. Women's Open | T63 | CUT | DNP | T8 | T6 |
| du Maurier Classic | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | T28 | T9 | CUT | 1 | 5 | T35 | T69 | CUT |
| LPGA Championship | T30 | T15 | 2 | 3 | WD | CUT | CUT | |
| U.S. Women's Open | T39 | T18 | T10 | T64 | T52 | DNP | CUT | |
| Women's British Open ^ | T32 | T53 | T3 | T13 | T8 | DNP | T50 |
^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
WD = withdrew Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ All-Time Rolex Junior Players of the Year. American Junior Golf Association. Retrieved on 2007-04-04.
- ^ Lisa D. Mickey. Silver Anniversary Salute: FUTURES Tour Prepares For Next 25 Years. Duramed Futures Tour. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
- ^ Duramed FUTURES Tour Awards. Futures Tour. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
[edit] External links
|
|||||
