Grace Park (born March 6, 1979), born Park Ji-eun (Korean: 박지은), is a retired South Korean professional golfer on the LPGA Tour. She was a member of the LPGA Tour from 2000 until her retirement in 2012 and won six LPGA Tour events, including one major championship, during her career.
| Grace Park 박지은 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Full name | Grace Park | ||||||
| Born | March 6, 1979 Seoul, South Korea | ||||||
| Height | 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||
| Sporting nationality |  South Korea | ||||||
| Residence | Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||
| Career | |||||||
| College | Arizona State University Ewha Womans University | ||||||
| Turned professional | 1999 | ||||||
| Former tour(s) | Futures Tour (joined 1999) LPGA Tour (joined 2000) | ||||||
| Professional wins | 11 | ||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||
| LPGA Tour | 6 | ||||||
| Epson Tour | 5 | ||||||
| Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 1) | |||||||
| Chevron Championship | Won: 2004 | ||||||
| Women's PGA C'ship | 2nd: 2003 | ||||||
| U.S. Women's Open | T6: 2000 | ||||||
| du Maurier Classic | DNP | ||||||
| Women's British Open | T3: 2003 | ||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||
| |||||||
| Grace Park | |
| Hangul | 박지은 |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | Bak Ji-eun |
| McCune–Reischauer | Pak Chiŭn |
Amateur career
editPark was born Park Ji-eun 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. In 2002, she won the Honda Award (now the Honda Sports Award) as the best female collegiate golfer in the nation.[1][2]
Park had an outstanding amateur career in the United States being Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 1994 and 1996,[3] 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.
Professional career
editPark turned professional in 1999 and decided to play on the Futures Tour instead of taking exemptions to LPGA Tour 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.[4] She was named Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year.[5]
She won at least one LPGA tournament in each season from 2000 to 2004, including her only 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.[6]
In June 2012, Park announced her retirement from golf.[7]
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.
Professional wins (11)
editLPGA Tour (6)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| LPGA Tour major championships (1) |
| Other LPGA Tour (5) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 4, 2000 | Kathy Ireland Greens.com LPGA Classic | 66-68-70-70=274 | −14 | 1 stoke |  Pat Hurst Juli Inkster
|
| 2 | Jan 28, 2001 | The Office Depot | 70-69-70-71=280 | −6 | 1 stroke |  Karrie Webb
|
| 3 | Nov 3, 2002 | Cisco World Ladies Match Play Championship | 22 holes |  Midori Yoneyama
| ||
| 4 | May 4, 2003 | Michelob Light Open at Kingsmill | 67-68-69-71=275 | −9 | 1 stroke | Cristie Kerr Lorena Ochoa Karrie Webb
|
| 5 | Mar 28, 2004 | Kraft Nabisco Championship | 72-69-67-69=277 | −11 | 1 stroke | Aree Song
|
| 6 | Oct 31, 2004 | CJ Nine Bridges Classic | 66-69-65=200 | −16 | 5 strokes |  Carin Koch Annika Sörenstam
|
LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2003 | McDonald's LPGA Championship | Annika Sörenstam
|
Lost to par on first extra hole |
Futures Tour (5)
edit- 1999 (5) Betty Puskar FUTURES Golf Classic, YWCA Briarwood FUTURES Open, SmartSpikes FUTURES Classic, Carolina National FUTURES Classic, Greater Lima FUTURES Open
Major championships
editWins (1)
edit| Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Kraft Nabisco Championship | −11 (72-69-67-69=277) | 1 stroke | Aree Song
|
Results timeline
edit| Tournament | 1995 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | CUT | CUT | 23 | T39 | |
| LPGA Championship | CUT | ||||
| U.S. Women's Open | T63 | CUT | T8 | T6 | |
| du Maurier Classic |
| 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 | ||
| U.S. Women's Open | T39 | T18 | T10 | T64 | T52 | CUT | CUT | ||
| Women's British Open ^ | T32 | T53 | T3 | T13 | T8 | T50 | CUT |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | T10 | CUT | CUT |
| LPGA Championship | WD | 77 | T71 |
| U.S. Women's Open | |||
| Women's British Open ^ | CUT |
^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Summary
edit- Starts – 46
- Wins – 1
- 2nd-place finishes – 1
- 3rd-place finishes – 2
- Top 3 finishes – 4
- Top 5 finishes – 5
- Top 10 finishes – 11
- Top 25 finishes – 15
- Missed cuts – 15
- Most consecutive cuts made – 11
- Longest streak of top-10s – 5
Team appearances
editAmateur
- Espirito Santo Trophy (representing South Korea): 1998
Professional
References
edit- ^ "Park has dazzled as an amateur, pro golfer". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ "Golf". CWSA. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ "All-Time Rolex Junior Players of the Year". American Junior Golf Association. Retrieved April 4, 2007.
- ^ Mickey, Lisa D. "Silver Anniversary Salute: FUTURES Tour Prepares For Next 25 Years". Duramed Futures Tour. Archived from the original on April 9, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2007.
- ^ "Duramed FUTURES Tour Awards". Futures Tour. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007.
- ^ "Grace Park to miss four months". Retrieved April 5, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Grace Park announces retirement". ESPN. Associated Press. June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
External links
edit
- Grace Park at the LPGA Tour official site
- Grace Park at golf.about.com at the Wayback Machine (archived January 8, 2008)
