Grace Park (golfer)
| Grace Park 박지은 |
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|---|---|
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| Personal information | |
| Full name | Grace Park 박지은 |
| Born | 6 March 1979 Seoul, South Korea |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Nationality |  South Korea |
| Residence | Scottsdale, Arizona |
| Career | |
| College | Arizona State University Ewha Womans University |
| Turned professional | 1999 |
| Current tour(s) | LPGA Tour (joined 2000) |
| Former tour(s) | Futures Tour (joined 1999) |
| Professional wins | 12 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| LPGA Tour | 6 |
| Futures Tour | 5 |
| Other | 1 |
| Best results in LPGA Major Championships (Wins: 1) |
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| Kraft Nabisco C'ship | Won: 2004 |
| LPGA Championship | 2nd: 2003 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T6: 2000 |
| du Maurier Classic | DNP |
| Women's British Open | T3: 2003 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| Futures Tour Player of the Year |
1999 |
| LPGA Vare Trophy | 2004 |
Grace Park (born Park Ji-eun (Korean: 박지은) 6 March 1979) is a South Korean professional golfer on the LPGA Tour.
Contents |
[edit] Amateur career
Park was born in Seoul, South Korea. 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 several amateur championships in 1998 including the U.S. Women's Amateur and the Women's Western Amateur. She tied 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. The years 2005 and 2006 were difficult for Park as she suffered from back and neck injuries, and success continued to elude her the following two seasons as well. In April 2009 it was reported that Park had undergone a successful hip surgery, and that she would be off the LPGA tour for several months.[4]
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 (12)
[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) The Office Depot
- 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 major is shown in bold.
[edit] Other
- 2004 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Juli Inkster and Cristie Kerr)
[edit] Major championships
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | Winning Score | Margin | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Kraft Nabisco Championship | -11 (72-69-67-69=277) | 1 stroke | Aree Song |
[edit] Results timeline
| 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 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | T28 | T9 | CUT | 1 | 5 | T35 | T69 | CUT | CUT |
| LPGA Championship | T30 | T15 | 2 | 3 | WD | CUT | CUT | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Women's Open | T39 | T18 | T10 | T64 | T52 | DNP | CUT | CUT | DNP |
| Women's British Open ^ | T32 | T53 | T3 | T13 | T8 | DNP | T50 | CUT | DNP |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | T10 | CUT |
| LPGA Championship | WD | 77 |
| U.S. Women's Open | DNP | DNP |
| Women's British Open ^ | DNP | CUT |
^ 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] References
- ^ "All-Time Rolex Junior Players of the Year". American Junior Golf Association. http://www.ajga.org/Rankings/playersoftheyear.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
- ^ Lisa D. Mickey. "Silver Anniversary Salute: FUTURES Tour Prepares For Next 25 Years". Duramed Futures Tour. http://www.duramedfuturestour.com/News/SilverAnniversarySalute.html. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
- ^ "Duramed FUTURES Tour Awards". Futures Tour. Archived from the original on 2007-02-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20070218001712/http://www.duramedfuturestour.com/FUTURESAwards.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ "Grace Park to miss four months". http://www.seattlepi.com/scorecard/golfnews.asp?articleID=258758. Retrieved 2010-04-05.[dead link]
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Grace Park (golfer) |
- Grace Park at the LPGA Tour official site
- Grace Park bio
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