Jennifer Kupcho

Jennifer Kupcho started playing golf when she was about five years old. Her entire family played, so she wanted to make it an even foursome.
She arrived at Wake Forest as one of the best golfers to come from the state of Colorado, and in May of her freshman year, she was the runner-up in the NCAA Division I Championship. Reached the Round of 16 in the 2015 U.S. Women's Amateur. Named Colorado Women's Golf Association Player of the Year. Won a state championship and was the runner-up and the low-amateur in the Colorado Women's Open. A two-time Colorado Women's Golf Association Junior Player of the Year and the first player in state history to be named both the CWGA Player of the Year and Junior Player of the Year in the same season. In the 2014 U.S. Girls' Junior, she was T-8th in stroke play and advanced to match play. Also, T-8th in the Girls' Junior Americas Cup. Won the 2014 Colorado Junior PGA Championship and the Big I Junior Classic.
Freshman Season (2015-2016) Notes: Named All-ACC and Honorable Mention All-American. Finished with four Top-5 and seven Top-10 finishes, including runner-up at the ACC Championship and Bryan National Collegiate, T-4th at the Landfall Tradition, 5th at the Tar Heel Invitational, T-6th at the NCAA Stanford Regional, and T-6th at the NCAA Championship (5-under), becoming the first player in program history to conclude the NCAA Championship under par. Played in the 2016 U.S. Women's Open, missing the cut.
Sophomore Season (2016-2017) Notes: Named First Team All-American and All-ACC. Finished in the Top-5 in eight out of 10 events. Won Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational, Landfall Tradition, NCAA Athens Regional. Finished runner-up at ACC Championship, Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational and T-2nd at NCAA Championship. Finished T-3rd at Bryan National Collegiate and T-4th at Cougar Classic.
Junior Season (2017-2018) Notes: She played in 12 events and broke her school record with a 70.60 scoring average. She won the 2018 NCAA Division I Championships individual title and became the first wire-to-wire NCAA Champion since 2002. First National Player of the Year in program history by winning the 2018 Honda Award. Also named first-team WGCA All-American and first-team All-ACC. She won four titles at the Ocean Course Invitational, Bryan National Collegiate, NCAA Tallahassee Regional, and NCAA Championship. She had six top-five and seven top-10 finishes, played 23 of 35 rounds at par or better, and tied her school 54-hole scoring record with a 15-under 201 to win the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. She was a member of the victorious United States teams at the 2018 Curtis Cup and Palmer Cup.
Became the No. 1 amateur in the world ranking (WAGR) in July 2018. Finished T-16th at the LPGA Marathon Classic.
Senior Season (2018-2019) Notes: She captured two titles at the Tar Heel Classic and the Bryan National Collegiate, where she became the first repeat winner in the tournament's history. Kupcho set the NCAA record with 35 career rounds in the 60s, and her nine career wins were one shy of the Wake Forest record. She finished T-23rd at the individual NCAA Championships and led the Demon Deacons to the NCAA Championship national title match before falling short to Duke in the finals.
Kupcho made history in April 2019 when she became the first female champion at Augusta National after winning the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur by four shots over Maria Fassi.
Kupcho turned pro after concluding her career at Wake Forest (she finished T-23rd in the individual part, Wake Forest was 2nd, and in the final match, She lost to Jaravee Boonchant on the 19th hole).
2019 Notes: She earned her LPGA card by finishing 2nd at the LPGA Q Series in 2018 but remained an amateur until after her final college tournament. She officially played in her first event as a professional at the U.S. Women's Open, finishing T-62nd. Kupcho was able to play in 19 LPGA Tour events as a pro, making 11 cuts with three top-ten finishes. She was 39th on the money list with $525,432 in earnings and was 47th on the CME points list. Her first top ten was a T-5th at the Marathon Classic. Was T-2nd at The Evian Championship, she shot a final-round 66 to finish two back of winner Jin Young Ko. She was T-4th at the Toto Japan Classic.
2020 Notes: Played in 14 LPGA Tour events, making 10 cuts with two top-ten finishes. She was 29th on the money list with $381,160 in earnings, and she finished 28th on the CME points list. She was 2nd at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, two shots back of winner Mel Reid. The next week was T-7th at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. During the break from COVID-19, she won the Colorado Women's Open. It was her first professional title, and she beat Carlota Ciganda by three shots and won $50,000.
2021 Notes: Played in 23 LPGA Tour events, making the cut in 19 with five top-ten finishes. She was 35th on the money list with $591,680 in earnings and 26th in CME points. Finished 2nd at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala, five shots back of Austin Ernst. She was tied for the 54-hole lead at the ISPS Handa World Women's Championship before finishing 3rd, a shot back of the Pajaree Anannarukarn/Emma Talley playoff. She went 2-1-1 in the U.S. team's losing effort in the Solheim Cup. She was beaten in her singles match with Leona Maguire 5 & 4. Trailed by one shot through 54 holes at the Pelican Women's Championship but shot a closing 77 to finish T-22.
2022 Notes: Played in 26 LPGA Tour events, making 22 cuts with four top-ten finishes. She was 7th on the money list with $768,975 in earnings and was 6th in CME points. She was married in February to Jay Monahan. She finished T-6th at the Honda LPGA Thailand, four shots back of the Nanna Koerstz Madsen/Beat Xiyu Lin playoff. Her first LPGA victory came in a major at the Chevron Championship. Led by six shots after rounds of 66-70-64 and by seven midway through the front nine of the final round. The lead was cut to two midway through the back nine, but a closing 74 ended up giving her a two-shot win over Jessica Korda. Added two more victories at the Meijer LPGA Classic in a playoff over Leona Maguire, Nelly Korda, and the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with partner Lizette Salas. She ended the season with a T-33rd finish at the CME Group Tour Championship.
2023 Notes: Played in 23 LPGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with two top-ten finishes. She was 39th on the money list with $708,648 in earnings and was 35th in CME points. She was 2nd at the Mizuho Americas Open, losing in a playoff to Rose Zhang. Kupcho was five shots back entering the final round and shot 69 to catch Zhang after regulation, but she made a bogey on the second playoff hole to finish 2nd. She was T-6th at the Meijer LPGA Classic, six shots back of the winner Leona Maguire. She was a U.S. Solheim Cup team member and was 0-2-1 in the matches. She ended her season at the CME Group Tour Championship, finishing T-30th.