Inbee Park

Started playing golf at age 10 and credits her father as the individual who most influenced her career.
Accumulated many accolades during her amateur career. Won nine events on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit and was a five-time Rolex Junior All-American. Named the 2002 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year. Competed in 25 AJGA events during her career and recorded 18 top-five finishes. Semifinalist at the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur. Won the 2002 U.S. Girls' Junior at Echo Lake Country Club in Westfield, N.J., and finished as runner-up in both 2003 and 2005. Playing as a sponsor invite, T-62nd at the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship. Also competed in the LPGA Takefuji Classic three times (2004, T-8th; 2005, 5th; and 2006, T-35th) during her amateur career.
Park graduated from Kwangwoon University in Seoul, Korea, before her family moved to Las Vegas. She went to Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas and enrolled at the University of Nevada after graduating. At the time, she was 17 and appealing to the LPGA Tour to waive its 18-year-old rule. When they ruled against Park, she dropped out of UNLV and turned pro.
In 2006, turned professional in April and competed on the Duramed Futures Tour, where she recorded 11 top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish at the CIGNA Chip in For A Cure Futures Golf Classic; finished third on the Duramed Futures Tour season-ending money list to earn exempt status for the 2007 LPGA season.
In 2007, carded a career-low 64 during the third round of the Safeway Classic.
In 2008, she became a Rolex first-time winner at the U.S. Women's Open at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., where she beat up Helen Alfredsson by four strokes and crossed the $1 million mark in the season and career earnings. She was the youngest player to ever win the U.S. Women's Open at the age of 19 years, 11 months, and 17 days, and just the fifth player in history to win both the U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Open, along with Mickey Wright, JoAnne Carner, Amy Alcott, and Hollis Stacy. She carded a career-low 64 during the second round of the Corona Championship, where she T-3rd.
In 2009, her best finish was a T-5th at the Mizuno Classic, where she tied her season-low 66 in the second round. She had previously carded 66 in the first round of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic and had T-7th at the Hana Bank-Kolon Championship.
In 2010, her best finish was as runner-up at the Kia Classic. She finished third at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, finished fourth at the P&G NW Arkansas Championship, and T-7th at the LPGA Championship.
In 2011, her best finish was a T-6th at the U.S. Women's Open, although she also T-7th at the Ricoh Women's British Open and T-14th at the Wegmans LPGA Championship. Additionally, she T-17th at the Evian Masters and T-18th at that year's Kia Classic.
2012 Notes: Played 24 events, making 23 cuts and earning $2,287,080. She had two victories, six runner-up finishes, and 10 additional top-10 finishes. She won her first Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average (70.21)
2013 Notes: Played in 23 events, made 22 cuts, and won the money title for the second consecutive year, becoming just the second player in history to earn at least $2 million in back-to-back seasons. Became the first player in the modern era to win the first three major championships of the season (Kraft Nabisco Championship, Wegmans LPGA Championship, and U.S. Women's Open). Became the first South Korean in LPGA history to win the Rolex Player of the Year. Ended the year with six victories and five additional top-10 results. Crossed the $7 million mark in career earnings.
2014 Notes: She was second on the money list with $2,226,641 and fourth in CME points despite a muscle strain in her right shoulder that bothered her at the end of the season. She made 22 cuts in 23 starts. She won three times on the LPGA Tour and one time on the LET in 2014. She was the No. 1 player on the Rolex Rankings from April 17, 2013, until June 2, 2014, when she was replaced by Stacy Lewis. Park returned to No. 1 on October 27. One week after losing the No. 1 ranking in June, Park won for the first time, shooting a final-round 61 (23-under 261 total) at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic to beat Cristie Kerr by three shots. Her second LPGA win was at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, where she beat Brittany Lincicome in a playoff after they tied at 11-under 277. Her third LPGA victory of the year came at the Fuban Taiwan Championship in November. Park shot 22-under 266 to beat Stacy Lewis by two. The win came one week after she returned to the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Rankings and three weeks after her wedding to Gi Hyeob Nam, a former Korean Tour player who also has been Park's swing coach. She won the individual title in the Mission Hills World Ladies Championship, a team competition on the Ladies European Tour. Park beat Suzann Pettersen by five shots. Park and So Yeon Ryu won the team competition (for South Korea) by 28 shots over Shanshan Feng and Xiyu Lin of China. Park was second two times in 2014. At the LPGA Thailand in her first start of the year, she was two shots back of winner Anna Nordqvist. Prior to starting her season in February, she spent five weeks training and vacationing in Australia, where she went paddleboarding for the first time, swam with dolphins, and saw kangaroos and koalas. She lost on the second hole of a playoff to Mirim Lee in the Meijer Classic in Grand Rapids after they had tied at 14-under 270. She was 4th at the Women's British Open, two shots back of winner Mo Martin after a final-round 77 in windy conditions at Royal Birkdale.
2015 Notes: Played in 25 LPGA events making 24 cuts with 15 top-10 finishes, after the season-opening Coates Golf Championship in early February, Park lost the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Ranking to Lydia Ko. She won the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore for her 13th LPGA title. Park did not make a bogey during the tournament, shooting 15-under-par 273 to beat Lydia Ko by two. She teamed with So Yeon Ryu to win the team competition at the Mission Hills World Ladies Championship on the LET in March for the second straight year. Park was second to Ryu in the individual competition, one shot back. She was second at the LOTTE Championship, losing a playoff to Sei Young Kim, who holed out from 154 yards for eagle on the first extra hole. Kim got into the playoff by tying Park on the 72nd hole with a chip-in from the fringe. She won the Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout after shooting a bogey-free 65 in the final round. Park finished at 15-under 269 to beat Hee Young Park and Cristie Kerr by three. She won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Westchester CC by five shots over Sei Young Kim. Park shot 19-under 273 for the week and did not make a bogey over the last 56 holes. She also regained the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Ranking, surpassed Se Ri Pak for the most majors by a South Korean player with six, and tied the LPGA Tour record for the lowest score in a major in relation to par (Westchester had a par of 73). It was her third straight win in the event formerly known as the LPGA Championship, and she joins Annika Sorenstam (2003-2005) as are only players to win the event three straight times. It was her third win of 2015 and her 15th overall on the LPGA Tour. Also won the RICOH Women's British Open and the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. She was 2nd on the money list with $2,630,011 and 2nd in CME points.
2016 Notes: She had an injury-plagued season, sidelined in April with an injury to a ligament in her left thumb. She tried to play at Kingsmill but withdrew after one round. Park rested and rehabbed her injured thumb after missing the cut at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in June and did not play again until the Rio Olympics as a member of South Korea's golf team. For the year only played in 10 LPGA events and only finished 5 events. Her best finish was 2nd at the KIA Classic and T-6th at the ANA Inspiration. After the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, she only played once, at the Olympics, but didn't play again on the LPGA for the rest of the year. She finished 69th in the money race with only $253,381 in earnings and 72nd in CME points. The bright part of the year was the Olympics, playing for the Republic of Korea, she won the gold medal, beating Lydia Ko by 5 shots. She returned home and received a hero's welcome. She also adopted a Golden Retriever puppy and named him Rio She did not play the rest of the season again and did not touch a club for four months.
2017 Notes: Played in 15 LPGA events making 14 cuts. Started back after her rehab at the Honda LPGA Thailand, finishing T-25th. In the next week, shot a final-round 64 at the HSBC Women's Champions to beat Ariya Jatanugarn by a shot. She was T-3rd at the ANA Inspiration, a shot out of the playoff won by So Yeon Ryu. Also had top-10s at the Walmart NW Arkansas (T-6th) and was T-7th at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Finished T-11th at the Ricoh Women's British Open and then T-56th the next week at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in Korea, but her back was sore, and she took the next ten weeks off to help her back injury. Returned in late October to play her last event of the year, finishing 4th at the KB Financial Group Star Championship on the Korean LPGA.
2018 Notes: Played in 13 LPGA events making 11 cuts with six top-ten finishes. Started her year by carrying the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in her homeland. After finishing T-31st at the HSBC Women's World Championship, she won the Bank of Hope Founders Cup. Park shot 63-67 on the weekend to finish at 19-under 269 and beat Marina Alex, Laura Davies, and Ariya Jutanugarn by 5 shots. Was in a 3-person playoff at the ANA Inspiration, Pernilla Lindberg would beat Park on the 8th hole of that playoff as Park finished T-2nd, her 6th top-tens in 12 ANA starts. Her next start was T-3rd at the Lotte Championship, 5 back of winner Brooke Henderson. Next start was T-2nd at the Hugel-JTBC L.A. Open she was 2 shots back of winner Moriya Jutanugarn. With that finish regained the #1 spot from Shanshan Feng on the Rolex Ranking. Won for the first time in her native country Korea by beating Kim A. Lim 1 up to win the Doosan Match Play Championship. She finished 9th at the U.S. Women's Open and then T-8th at the Evian Championship, which was her last LPGA start of the year. She made just one worldwide appearance in the last three months of 2018, a runner-up finishes at the KB Financial Group Championship on the Korean LPGA Tour in October. She held the # 1 spot on the Rolex Ranking for 14 weeks before Ariya Jutanugarn passed her after the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open in July. For the year, won $979,527 on the LPGA, ranking 15th, and was 17th in the Race to CME.
2019 Notes: Played in 17 LPGA Tour events making 16 cuts with six top-ten finishes. Was 26th on the money list with $781,166 in earnings, she was 23rd on the CME Points list. Was T-2nd at the KIA Classic, 3 shots back of Nasa Hataoka. Was T-5th at the Hugel-Air Premia L.A. Open 6 shots back of winner Minjee Lee. Was T-7th at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, then the next week was T-2nd at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Park was a shot back of winner Sung Hyun Park. The next week was T-8th at The Evian Championship. Here final top-ten was a T-8th at the Volunteers of America Classic.
2020 Notes: Played in 13 LPGA Tour events making 10 cuts with 8 top-ten finishes. Was 3rd on the money list with $1,377,799 in earnings and was 1st on the CME points list. At the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions was T-2nd, losing to Gaby Lopez in a three-player playoff. Won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, she had a 7-shot lead midway through the final round. Was able to steady the ship and beat Amy Olson by three shots. During the break for COVID-19, she played in the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in Korea and finished T-15th. On the return was 4th at the AIG Women's Open after starting with a first-round 77. Park was six shots back of winner Sophia Popov. Was T-7th at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and T-5th at the Cambia Portland Classic, two shots back of the Georgia Hall/Ashleigh Buhai playoff. Was 2nd at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, five shots back of Sei Young Kim. Was T-2nd at the VOA Texas Shootout, two shots back of winner Angela Stanford. Shot a final round 68 to finish T-6th at the U.S. Women's Open, five shots back of winner A Lim Kim.
2021 Notes: Played in 17 LPGA Tour events making 17 cuts with eight top-ten finishes. Was 5th on the CME Points list and 12th on the money list with earnings of $1,116,295. In her first start of the season won the KIA Classic, shot a first-round 66, and led all the way to beat Amy Olson and Lexi Thompson by five shots. Was T-7th at the ANA Inspiration, then T-2nd at the LOTTE Championship to finish seven shots back of winner Lydia Ko. Was T-3rd at the HSBC Women's Champions, two shots back of winner Hyo Joo Kim. Was T-7th at the U.S. Women's Open, it was her 10th top-ten finish in 15 Women's Open starts. Finished T-10th at the Meijer LPGA Classic. She was T-23rd at the Toyko Olympics as a South Korea's women's golf team member. Was the second round co-leader at the ShopRite Classic but shot 69 in the final round to finish T-2nd, a shot back of winner Celine Boutier in the 54-hole events. Ended the season with a T-36th finish at the BMW Ladies Championship.
2022 Notes: Was T-8th in the season opening Hilton Tournament of Champions. Finished T-3rd at the DIO Implant L.A. Open, eight shots back of winner Nasa Hataoka.