Karen Stupples

Karen Stupples
— Golfer —

Stupples at the 2009 Women's British Open
Personal information
Full name Karen Louise Stupples
Born (1973-06-24) 24 June 1973
Dover, Kent, England
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Nationality  England
Residence Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Career
College Arkansas State University
Florida State University
Turned professional 1998
Retired 2014
Former tour(s) LPGA Tour (joined 1999)
Ladies European Tour (joined 2004)
Professional wins 3
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour 2
Ladies European Tour 2
Best results in LPGA major championships
(Wins: 1)
ANA Inspiration T5: 2010
Women's PGA C'ship T9: 2002
U.S. Women's Open T10: 2005
du Maurier Classic DNP
Women's British Open Won: 2004
Evian Championship DNP

Karen Louise Stupples (born 24 June 1973) is an English professional golfer who plays primarily on the U.S. based LPGA Tour and is also a member of the Ladies European Tour.

Amateur career

Stupples was born in Dover, Kent. She started her golfing career as a caddie for her father at Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich to earn pocket money.[1] She played for England Juniors from 1989–1991 and England Seniors from 1995-1998.[2] She also represented Great Britain & Ireland on the Curtis Cup winning team in 1996 at home in Killarney, Ireland[3] and losing 1998 team away in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[4]

Stupples was going to study polymer science in the UK before deciding to go to university in the United States.[5] With the assistance of College Prospects of America, she took a golf scholarship at Arkansas State University before transferring to Florida State University in 1993.[6] As a Seminole, she won two events (Spring 1994 Spalding/Peggy Kirk Bell and Spring 1995 Lady Gator),[7] was selected as All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 1994 and 1995, and was also named a 1995 Second-Team All-American.[8]

Stupples turned professional following the 1998 U.S. Women's Amateur.[9]

Professional career

Despite being a professional, Stupples returned home to England becoming a cloakroom attendant for the Port of Dover and waitressing at a public golf course in Kent[1] as she did not have the money to take a run at LPGA Qualifying School.[10] When a regular restaurant customer offered to sponsor her for three years, she and her husband sold their house, furniture and car and moved to the United States[11] where she earned non-exempt status on the LPGA Tour by tying for 52nd at the 1998 Final Qualifying Tournament.[9]

Stupples made her professional debut in Hawaii[5] and, after a season in which her best finish was a tie for 8th, she returned to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, where she tied for 17th to earn exempt status for the 2000 season. Over the 2000 - 2003 period, she achieved 7 top ten finishes,[9] but her form transformed in 2004.

After finishing second behind Annika Sörenstam at the ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia, Stupples carded the best 72-hole raw score in LPGA Tour history (258) to win her maiden title, the Welch's Fry Championship, by five strokes. This win made her eligible to join the Ladies European Tour and begin earning points for the 2005 Solheim Cup.[12] She had not joined the LET when joining the LPGA as she could not at the time afford the joining fee of £600.[13] She followed this up by winning the Women's British Open at Sunningdale where she became only the second player in history to record a double eagle or albatross at an LPGA major championship (began the final round with an eagle, albatross on the first two holes).[14] She became only the third English player to win a major after Laura Davies and Alison Nicholas.[15] and was the first home winner since Penny Grice-Whittaker in 1991.[14] She crossed the $1 million mark in LPGA career earnings at the U.S. Women's Open and finished in sixth place on the money list.[9]

At the end of 2004, Stupples was made an honorary member of Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club in Deal, the Kent golf club which she first joined as a 15-year-old[16] and she attended a reception at Buckingham Palace where she met The Duke of York.[17]

In 2005, Stupples represented England at the 2005 Women's World Cup of Golf in South Africa alongside Laura Davies,[18] was one of Catrin Nilsmark's five wild card picks making her Solheim Cup debut at Crooked Stick GC, in Carmel, Indiana[19] and was part of the International Team at the Lexus Cup.[20]

Personal life

Stupples is married to Bobby Inman, who served as her caddie, and she gave birth to a son on April 21, 2007.[21]

Professional wins

LPGA Tour wins

Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 14 May 2004 Welch's/Fry's Championship −22 (63-66-66-63=258) 5 strokes United States Jung Yeon Lee
United States Grace Park
2 1 Aug 2004 Weetabix Women's British Open −19 (65-70-70-64=269) 5 strokes Australia Rachel Teske

Ladies European Tour wins

Major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionshipWinning score MarginRunner-up
2004 Weetabix Women's British Open −19 (65-70-70-64=269) 5 strokes Australia Rachel Teske

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2014.

Tournament 2000
Kraft Nabisco Championship DNP
LPGA Championship CUT
U.S. Women's Open DNP
du Maurier Classic DNP
Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Kraft Nabisco Championship DNP DNP T15 T16 T23 T17 DNP 12 DNP T5 T29 T75
LPGA Championship DNP T9 T20 T30 T25 T69 DNP T69 CUT CUT T34 54
U.S. Women's Open DNP T37 T41 T32 T10 T20 DNP T31 T52 T39 T15 CUT
Women's British Open ^ CUT T56 T12 1 T11 T10 T42 T24 CUT CUT T22 CUT
Tournament 2013 2014
Kraft Nabisco Championship T55 DNP
U.S. Women's Open CUT DNP
Women's British Open ^ CUT CUT
LPGA Championship DQ DNP
The Evian Championship ^^ DNP DNP

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.
^^ The Evian Championship became an LPGA major in 2013.
DNP = did not play.
CUT = missed the half-way cut.
DQ = disqualified
"T" = tied
Green background for a win. Yellow background for a top-10 finish.

LPGA Tour career summary

Year Wins Earnings ($) Money list rank Average
1999 0 34,826 130 73.16
2000 0 59,113 119 73.53
2001 0 91,027 89 72.66
2002 0 214,760 46 72.41
2003 0 325,774 35 71.68
2004 2 968,852 6 70.65
2005 0 304,385 41 72.44
2006 0 276,188 49 72.16
2007 0 61,613 n/a 72.71
2008 0 726,436 23 71.28
2009 0 144,425 68 72.75
2010 0 221,815 46 72.31
2011 0 397,081 29 71.87
2012 0 116,909 73 73.02
2013 0 32,357 110 73.51
2014 0 $2,492 167 75.89

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

Year Total Matches Total W-L-H Singles W-L-H 4somes W-L-H 4balls W-L-H Points Won Points %
Career 5 1-4-0 1-1-0 0-2-0 0-1-0 1 20%
2005 2 0-2-0 0-1-0 lost to M. Mallon 3&1 0-1-0 lost w/S. Gustafson 2&1 0 0%
2011 3 1-2-0 1-0-0 def. C. Kerr 10&81 0-2-0 lost w/M. Reid 1 dn
lost w/C. Boeljon 3&2		 1 33.3%

1 Kerr conceded the match at its start, because of injury.[22] Following Solheim Cup rules, this is recorded as a 10 and 8 win for Stupples.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Interview Karen Stupples: Overnight sensation years in the making". The Independent on Sunday. 2005-01-30. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  2. ↑ "Karen Stupples Player Profile". LET. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  3. ↑ "1996 Curtis Cup Match". USGA. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  4. ↑ "Previous Curtis Cup Matches 1932-2002". USGA. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  5. 1 2 "Up close and personal with Karen Stupples". LET. 2005-07-10. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  6. ↑ "College Prospects of Ameirica UK Clients". College Prospects of Ameirica (UK). Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  7. ↑ "Seminole Golfer Westrup Named National Women's Golfer Of The Week". Florida State University Athletics. 2006-03-29. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  8. ↑ "Debbie Dillman Profile". Florida State University Athletics. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "LPGA Full Career Biography" (PDF). LPGA. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  10. ↑ "Karen Stupples goes from waitress to LPGA star". Golf Today. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  11. ↑ "Morgan makes Solheim claim - Stupples stymied". LET. 2003-08-05. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  12. ↑ "Stupples breaks new ground in America". LET. 2004-03-15. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  13. ↑ "Karen Stupples joins the LET". LET. 2004-03-29. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  14. 1 2 "Super Stupples storms in at Sunningdale". LET. 2004-08-01. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  15. ↑ "Stupples Learned from watching Annika". LPGA. 2004. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  16. ↑ "Kent golfers honour Karen Stupples". ELGA. 2004-12-21. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  17. ↑ "Sit Down with Stupples". LPGA. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  18. ↑ "Women's World Cup of Golf: Twenty teams confirmed". LET. 2004-12-17. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  19. ↑ "The 2005 European Solheim Cup team announced". LET. 2005-08-28. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  20. ↑ "Internationals win The Lexus Cup". LET. 2005-12-12. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  21. ↑ "New Arrival for Stupples". LET Ladies European Tour. 2007-04-24. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  22. ↑ "Rosie Jones defends Cristie Kerr choice". ESPN. Associated Press. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2013.

External links

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