Minami Katsu (, born 1 July 1998) is a Japanese professional golfer. She is the youngest winner in the history of the LPGA of Japan Tour when she won the KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open as an amateur on 20 April 2014 at age 15.
Early life Katsu was born in Kagoshima City in 1998. She began to play golf at the age of six under her grandfather's influence. She graduated from Kagoshima Municipal Nagata Junior High School in 2014 and from in 2017.
Amateur wins 2014 New Zealand Women's Stroke Play Championship, Japan Junior Golf Championship (girl's aged 15–17 division) 2015 Japan Women's Amateur
Professional career Katsu has eight wins on the LPGA of Japan Tour, including one as an amateur.
Katsu earned her LPGA Tour card for the 2023 season via Q-School.
In 2025, Katsu had an unofficial shared LPGA Tour win with Sarah Schmelzel at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship when the tournament was shortened to only 18 holes due to heavy rainfall causing the course to be unplayable. Katsu and Schmelzel shot 8-under 63 during the tournament's only round.
Professional wins (8) LPGA of Japan Tour wins (8) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up120 Apr 2014KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open66-71-68=205−111 stroke Lee Bo-mee218 Nov 2018Daio Paper Elleair Ladies Open71-68-64-65=268−204 strokes Erika Kikuchi 35 May 2019Panasonic Open Ladies Golf Tournament69-68-67=204−12Playoff Jeon Mi-jeong426 May 2019Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies Open68-62-72=202−142 strokes Yui Kawamoto530 May 2021Resort Trust Ladies69-70-69-71=279−93 strokes Mamiko Higa Momoko Osato Momo Yoshikawa63 Oct 2021Japan Women's Open Golf Championship68-67-69-66=270−146 strokes Mao Saigo Momoko Ueda731 Jul 2022Rakuten Super Ladies65-66-64-71=266−225 strokes Mone Inami82 Oct 2022Japan Women's Open Golf Championship72-75-70-68=285−31 stroke Jiyai Shin Katsu won the 2014 KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open as an amateur. Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in LPGA of Japan Tour.
Playoff record LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12025Buick LPGA Shanghai Atthaya ThitikulLost to birdie on fifth extra hole
Results in LPGA majors Results not in chronological order. Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026Chevron ChampionshipCUTT9T62T12U.S. Women's OpenT22CUTCUTT71CUTCUTWomen's PGA Championship53T41T36T42The Evian ChampionshipNTT63T68T26Women's British OpenT35CUTCUTT21CUTT2T12
CUT = missed the half-way cut NT = no tournament T = tied
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeChevron Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 3U.S. Women's Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2Women's PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4The Evian Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3Women's British Open 0 1 0 1 1 3 7 4Totals 0 1 0 1 2 6 24 16 Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2023 U.S. Women's Open – 2024 Evian) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)
Team appearances Amateur Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Japan): 2014
References
External links