Grace Park (born 6 March 1979), born Park Ji-eun (), is a South Korean retired 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.
Early life In 1979, Park was born in Seoul, South Korea. She moved to Hawaii at the age of 12, and then to Arizona. In 1996, she received the Dial Award as top female high-school scholar-athlete in the United States.
Amateur career Park attended Arizona State University and graduated from Ewha Womans University. For the 1998-99 season, she won the Honda Award (now the Honda Sports Award) as the best female collegiate golfer in the nation.
Park had an outstanding amateur career in the United States being Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 1994 and 1996. She won 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 In 1999, Park turned professional. She decided to play on the Futures Tour instead of taking invitations to LPGA Tour tournaments. She won five of the ten tournaments she entered and became one of the first threes golfers to gain automatic LPGA Tour exempt status by finishing top of the money list. She was named Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year.
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.
In June 2012, Park announced her retirement from golf.
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.
Awards and honors In 1996, Park received one of two Dial Awards bestowed that year, given to the top female and male high school athletes in the United States by the Dial Corporation. In 1999, she won the Honda Award as the best female collegiate golfer in the nation. In 2002, she earned Futures Tour Rookie of the Year and Futures Tour Player of the Year honors. In 2004, Park won the LPGA Vare Trophy, bestowed to the golfer with the lowest scoring average.
Professional wins (11) LPGA Tour wins (6) LegendLPGA Tour major championships (1)Other LPGA Tour (5) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up14 Jun 2000Kathy Ireland Greens.com LPGA Classic66-68-70-70=274−14 1 stroke Pat Hurst Juli Inkster228 Jan 2001The Office Depot70-69-70-71=280−6 1 stroke Karrie Webb33 Nov 2002Cisco World Ladies Match Play Championship22 holes Midori Yoneyama44 May 2003Michelob Light Open at Kingsmill67-68-69-71=275−91 stroke Cristie Kerr Lorena Ochoa Karrie Webb528 Mar 2004Kraft Nabisco Championship72-69-67-69=277−111 stroke Aree Song631 Oct 2004CJ Nine Bridges Classic66-69-65=200−165 strokes Carin Koch Annika Sörenstam
LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12003McDonald's LPGA Championship Annika SörenstamLost to par on first extra hole
Futures Tour wins (5) 1999 (5) Betty Puskar FUTURES Golf Classic, YWCA Briarwood FUTURES Open, SmartSpikes FUTURES Classic, Carolina National FUTURES Classic, Greater Lima FUTURES Open
Major championships Wins (1) YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 2004 Kraft Nabisco Championship −11 (72-69-67-69=277) 1 stroke Aree Song
Results timeline Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000Kraft Nabisco ChampionshipCUTCUT23T39LPGA ChampionshipCUTU.S. Women's OpenT63CUTT8T6du Maurier Classic Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009201020112012Kraft Nabisco ChampionshipT28T9CUT15T35T69CUTCUTT10CUTCUTLPGA ChampionshipT30T1523WDCUTCUTWD77T71U.S. Women's OpenT39T18T10T64T52CUTCUTWomen's British Open ^T32T53T3T13T8T50CUTCUT ^ 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 Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeKraft Nabisco Championship 1 0 0 2 4 5 16 9lPGA Championship 0 1 1 2 2 3 11 6U.S. Women's Open 0 0 0 0 3 4 11 8du Maurier Classic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Women's British Open 0 0 1 1 2 3 8 6Totals 1 1 2 5 11 15 46 29 Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (2000 U.S. Open – 2002 British) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2003 LPGA – 2004 LPGA)
Team appearances Amateur Espirito Santo Trophy (representing South Korea): 1998
Professional Lexus Cup (representing Asia team): 2005, 2006 (winners)
References
External links