is a Japanese female professional golfer who in 2007 at the age of 21 became the youngest player in the history of the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA) to finish first on the money list. She also played on the United States–based LPGA Tour for six years.
Amateur career Ueda was born in Kumamoto, Japan. She started playing golf at the age of nine, and entered the prestigious Sakata School at ten. In twenty three amateur events, she placed in the top 10 fifteen times, including three wins, and five second-place finishes.
Professional career Ueda turned pro in August 2005 and won the JLPGA rookies cup that year. In 2006, she placed 4th in two JLPGA events, and tied for 9th in the Mizuno Classic, a joint JLPGA and LPGA event.
2007 was her breakout year on the JLPGA, with five wins, six runners-up, a 3rd and a 5th. Internationally, she represented Japan in the World Cup, and played in the Women's British Open at St Andrews. In April she won the Life Card Ladies at her home town of Kumamoto. She went on to win the Resort Trust Ladies and the Stanley Ladies, and placed 2nd in the Fujitsu Ladies, before winning the Mizuno Classic in November. A highlight of her tournament was a double-eagle during the tournament's final round. She became the tournament's first Japanese winner in nine years and only the 16th non-LPGA member in history to win an LPGA event. Two weeks later at the Elleair Ladies she won her fifth tournament and became the youngest money title winner in the history of the JLPGA tour.
Her win at Mizuno qualified her to play on the LPGA tour in 2008. In her first tournament of the year, the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, she finished fifth.
Ueda again won the Mizuno Classic in 2011. She birdied the 3rd hole of a sudden death playoff to defeat Shanshan Feng.Momoko Ueda wins Mizuno in playoff
At the conclusion of the second round of the 2024 Daio Paper Elleair Ladies Open on 15 November 2024, Ueda retired from the JLPGA Tour.
Professional wins (17) LPGA of Japan Tour wins (17) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up115 Apr 2007Life Card Ladies70-71-70=211−56 strokes Erina Hara23 Jun 2007 Resort Trust Ladies69-68-68=205–11Playoff Yuri Fudoh315 July 2007Stanley Ladies Golf Tournament71-35=106–2Playoff Chie Arimura Sakura Yokomine44 Nov 2007Mizuno Classic70-67-66=203–132 strokes Maria Hjorth Reilley Rankin518 Nov 2007Daio Paper Elleair Ladies Open66-71-72=209–73 strokes Erina Hara Yui Kawahara Shinobu Moromizato Mikiyo Nishizuka 615 Jun 2008Suntory Ladies Open70-69-70-72=281–71 stroke Lim Eun-a Song Bo-bae 728 Sep 2008Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Women's Open70-72-69=211–51 stroke Akane Iijima Julie Lu Yuko Mitsuka 89 Aug 2009AXA Ladies68-69-68=205–11Playoff Chie Arimura Lee Ji-hee96 Nov 2011Mizuno Classic67-64-69=200–16Playoff Shanshan Feng1024 Aug 2014CAT Ladies70-71-69=210–91 stroke Rikako Morita112 Nov 2014Hisako Higuchi – Morinaga Ladies68-69-69=206–101 stroke Junko Omote 1221 May 2017Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies Open66-69-65=200–162 strokes Teresa Lu1322 Oct 2017Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies73-65-67=205–112 strokes Asako Fujimoto Nasa Hataoka Jiyai Shin 1424 Mar 2019T-Point ENEOS Golf Tournament69-69-69=207–62 strokes Minami Katsu Jiyai Shin 159 Jun 2019Yonex Ladies Golf Tournament70-68-65=203–136 strokes Yuki Ichinose Kim Hyo-joo Rumi Yoshiba 162 May 2021Panasonic Open Ladies Golf Tournament70-68-73=202–5Playoff Momoko Osato1710 Apr 2022Fujifilm Studio Alice Ladies Open69-69-69=207–93 strokes Eri Fukuyama Mone Inami Seira Oki Mao Saigo Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.
LPGA Tour wins (2) Legend Major championships (0) Other LPGA Tour (2)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up14 Nov 2007Mizuno Classic70-67-66=203–132 strokes Maria Hjorth Reilley Rankin26 Nov 2011Mizuno Classic 67-64-69=200–16Playoff Shanshan Feng Co-sanctioned by the LPGA of Japan Tour.
LPGA Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12011Mizuno Classic Shanshan FengWon with birdie on third extra hole
Results in LPGA majors Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023Chevron ChampionshipT47T30T27T33T66T41Women's PGA ChampionshipT25T57CUTT30CUTCUTU.S. Women's OpenT13T40CUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTThe Evian Championship ^ T27NTWomen's British Open T7T55T9T22CUTCUTCUTT516 ^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
CUT = missed the half-way cut NT = no tournament "T" = tied
LPGA Tour career summary Year Events played Cuts made Wins 2nds 3rds Top 10s Best finish Earnings ($) Rank Scoring average Scoringrank2006110001T924,442n/a69.67n/a20074410021302,550n/a72.07n/a2008191600035413,5924571.7423200918150102T2416,3333371.68282010970001T6114,5094571.81312011161310011333,4943472.1931201219140000T12210,1975871.8533201317120000T2783,2838872.6676 Official as of the 2013 season
JLPGA prize money Year Earnings (¥) Rank 2005 0 – 2006 46,751,163 13 2007 166,112,232 1 2008 54,617,651 17 2009 42,380,260 21 2010 21,771,999 39 2011 35,710,800 22 2012 6,383,200 80 2013 19,256,000 48 2014 74,315,585 10 2015 88,731,118 7 2016 31,085,815 35 2017 101,820,977 6 2018 49,337,685 21 2019 81,089,991 9 2020–21* 57,140,302 13 Total* 876,504,778 9 * As of 13 June 2021
Team appearances Professional World Cup (representing Japan): 2007 The Queens (representing Japan): 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners)
References
External links