| Na Yeon Choi 최나연 |
|
|---|---|
Choi at the 2010 Women's British Open |
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| Personal information | |
| Born | 28 October 1987 Seoul, South Korea |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Nationality | South Korea |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 2004 |
| Current tour(s) | LPGA (joined 2008) |
| Former tour(s) | KLPGA (joined 2004) |
| Professional wins | 10 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| LPGA Tour | 5 |
| LPGA of Korea Tour | 7 |
| Best results in LPGA Major Championships |
|
| Kraft Nabisco C'ship | T6: 2008 |
| LPGA Championship | 8th: 2009 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T2: 2010 |
| Women's British Open | T7: 2011 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| LPGA Vare Trophy | 2010 |
| LPGA Tour Money Winner |
2010 |
| Na Yeon Choi | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 최나연 |
| Hanja | 崔蘿蓮 |
| Revised Romanization | Choe Na Yeon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Choi Na Yŏn |
Na Yeon Choi (Korean: 최나연, born 28 October 1987) is a South Korean female professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.
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At age 17 in 2004, Choi won the ADT CAPS Invitational on the LPGA of Korea Tour (KLPGA), beating future Hall-of-Famer Se Ri Pak by four strokes. Choi turned professional shortly thereafter, in November 2004. She won once each year on the KLPGA Tour in 2004 through 2007.
In 2007, Choi played in the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship, an event co-sponsored by the LPGA and KLPGA Tours, and finished eighth. She attended LPGA Qualifying Tournament in the fall of 2007, but finished two shots shy of earning a fully exempt Tour card for the 2008 season. Her non-exempt card meant she was not automatically eligible for every event, yet her high conditional status and consistent good play put her in nearly every tournament. She won over $1 million and finished 11th on the 2008 money list with nine top-10 finishes in 27 events played. She finished second in the LPGA Rookie of the Year race, just behind winner Yani Tseng.[1]
In 2009, Choi won twice on the LPGA Tour. In October she won the 20-player Samsung World Championship. Two weeks later she won the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship, an event co-sanctioned with the KLPGA.[2] Her third LPGA Tour win came in July 2010 at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at which she beat three other players on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.[3] In 2010, Choi was both the LPGA Tour money leader and the leading scorer (Vare Trophy).
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 Sep 2009 | Samsung World Championship | 71-67-63-71=272 | –16 | 1 stroke | Ai Miyazato |
| 2 | 1 Nov 2009 | Hana Bank-KOLON Championship | 68-71-67=206 | –10 | 1 stroke | Yani Tseng, Maria Hjorth |
| 3 | 4 Jul 2010 | Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic | 64-67-68-71=270 | –14 | Playoff | In-Kyung Kim, Christina Kim Song-Hee Kim |
| 4 | 31 Oct 2010 | LPGA Hana Bank Championship | 69-68-69=206 | –10 | 2 strokes | Vicky Hurst |
| 5 | 16 Oct 2011 | Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia | 66-68-67-68=269 | –15 | 1 stroke | Yani Tseng |
LPGA Tour playoff record (1-2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | Evian Masters | Helen Alfredsson Angela Park |
Alfredsson won with birdie on third extra hole Park eliminated with birdie on first hole |
| 2 | 2010 | Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic | In-Kyung Kim, Christina Kim Song-Hee Kim |
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 3 | 2011 | Safeway Classic | Suzann Pettersen | Lost to par on first extra hole |
| Tournament | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | DNP | T6 | T40 | T27 | T47 |
| LPGA Championship | DNP | T18 | 8 | CUT | T43 |
| U.S. Women's Open | CUT | T19 | T9 | T2 | CUT |
| Women's British Open | DNP | T21 | T8 | T3 | T7 |
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" tied
Green background for a win. Yellow background for a top-10 finish.
| Year | Tournaments played |
Cuts made |
Wins | 2nds | 3rds | Top 10s | Best finish |
Earnings ($) |
Money list rank |
Scoring average |
Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T14 | 18,136 | n/a | 73.80 | n/a |
| 2006 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T11 | 29,113 | n/a | 72.17 | n/a |
| 2007 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | T8 | 27,899 | n/a | 75.00 | n/a |
| 2008 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | T2 | 1,095,759 | 11 | 71.10 | 8 |
| 2009 | 26 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 1,341,078 | 6 | 70.51 | 7 |
| 2010 | 23 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 1,871,166 | 1 | 69.87 | 1 |
| 2011 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 1,357,382 | 3 | 70.53 | 2 |