Christina Kim
Encyclopedia
Christina Kim is an American
professional golfer
currently playing on the LPGA Tour
and on the Ladies European Tour
(LET). From San Jose, California
, she is known for her animated style of play, flamboyant dress, and outgoing personaliity.
Not long after her 18th birthday, Kim turned pro. In 2002 she competed on the Futures Tour and won the Hewlett-Packard Garden State FUTURES Summer Classic in a playoff over future LPGA Tour golfer Lorena Ochoa
.
Kim won the 2004 Longs Drugs Challenge and the 2005 Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions
and was a member of three U.S. Solheim Cup
teams in 2005
, 2009
, and 2011
. She was the youngest player to reach $1 million in earnings, which she achieved in 2004
at age 20. This record was broken the following year by Paula Creamer
.
She joined the Ladies European Tour
(LET) in 2010, competing in six events that year including two that were co-sanctioned with the LPGA. In 2011, she earned her first win on the LET at the Sicilian Italian Ladies Open.
Kim's autobiography, Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star, co-written with Alan Shipnuck was published in 2010.
LPGA Tour playoff record (0-1)
DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional golfer
Professional golfer
In golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained. An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose his or her amateur status. A golfer who has lost his or her amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated;...
currently playing on the LPGA Tour
LPGA
The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...
and on the Ladies European Tour
Ladies European Tour
The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1979. It is based in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal structure which enables it to focus on maximising returns to its members through prize money,...
(LET). From San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, she is known for her animated style of play, flamboyant dress, and outgoing personaliity.
Not long after her 18th birthday, Kim turned pro. In 2002 she competed on the Futures Tour and won the Hewlett-Packard Garden State FUTURES Summer Classic in a playoff over future LPGA Tour golfer Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...
.
Kim won the 2004 Longs Drugs Challenge and the 2005 Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions
The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions
The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions was a golf tournament for professional female golfers on the LPGA Tour. It was played annually from 1994 to 2007 at various sites in the Southeastern United States. It was last played at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Magnolia Grove Golf Course in...
and was a member of three U.S. Solheim Cup
Solheim Cup
The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force behind its creation.The inaugural Cup was held in 1990,...
teams in 2005
2005 Solheim Cup
The 9th Solheim Cup Match was held between September 9 and September 11, 2005 at Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana, USA. Team USA won the trophy for the sixth time by a score of 15½ to 12½ points...
, 2009
2009 Solheim Cup
The 11th Solheim Cup Matches were held between August 21 and August 23, 2009 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois in the United States...
, and 2011
2011 Solheim Cup
The 2011 Solheim Cup was the 12th Solheim Cup matches, held between 23 September and 25 September 2011 at Killeen Castle in County Meath in Ireland...
. She was the youngest player to reach $1 million in earnings, which she achieved in 2004
2004 LPGA Tour
The 2004 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from March through December 2004. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association . This was the 55th season since the LPGA Tour...
at age 20. This record was broken the following year by Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 11 tournaments, including 9 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings. She was the 2010 U.S...
.
She joined the Ladies European Tour
Ladies European Tour
The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1979. It is based in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal structure which enables it to focus on maximising returns to its members through prize money,...
(LET) in 2010, competing in six events that year including two that were co-sanctioned with the LPGA. In 2011, she earned her first win on the LET at the Sicilian Italian Ladies Open.
Kim's autobiography, Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star, co-written with Alan Shipnuck was published in 2010.
LPGA Tour (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 26, 2004 2004 LPGA Tour The 2004 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from March through December 2004. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association . This was the 55th season since the LPGA Tour... |
Longs Drugs Challenge | 1 stroke |  Karrie WebbKarrie Webb Karrie Ann Webb AM is Australia's most successful female professional golfer, and one of the top players in the history of global women's golf. She currently plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and also turns out once or twice a year on the ALPG Tour in her home country. She is a member of... |
|
| 2 | Nov 13, 2005 2005 LPGA Tour The 2005 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from February through December 2005. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association... |
The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions was a golf tournament for professional female golfers on the LPGA Tour. It was played annually from 1994 to 2007 at various sites in the Southeastern United States. It was last played at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Magnolia Grove Golf Course in... |
1 stroke | Rachel Hetherington Rachel Hetherington Rachel Hetherington is an Australian professional golfer playing on the American LPGA Tour. Hetherington played under her married name, Rachel Teske, from 2001–2004.-Career overview:... |
LPGA Tour playoff record (0-1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010 | Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, in full the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, is an annual golf tournament for professional female golfers on the LPGA Tour... |
 In-Kyung Kim, Na Yeon ChoiNa Yeon Choi Na Yeon Choi is a South Korean female professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.-Amateur career:At age 17 in 2004, Choi won the ADT CAPS Invitational on the LPGA of Korea Tour , beating future Hall-of-Famer Se Ri Pak by four strokes. Choi turned professional shortly thereafter, in... Song-Hee KimSong-Hee Kim Song-Hee Kim is a Korean female professional golfer currently playing on the United States-based LPGA Tour.-Futures Tour :*2006 Louisiana Pelican Classic, IOS Golf Classic, Aurora Health Care Championship, CIGNA Chip in For A Cure FUTURES Golf Classic, The Gettysburg Championship-Results in LPGA... |
Choi won with birdie on second extra hole |
Futures Tour (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 4, 2002 | Hewlett-Packard Garden State FUTURES Summer Classic | Playoff |  Lorena OchoaLorena Ochoa Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010... |
Ladies European Tour (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 9, 2011 | Sicilian Ladies Italian Open | 4 strokes |  Giulia Sergas |
Results in LPGA majors
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship Kraft Nabisco Championship The Kraft Nabisco Championship is one of the four major championships on the LPGA Tour. It was founded in 1972 by Dinah Shore and has been classified as a major since 1983... |
DNP | DNP | T28 | T8 | T39 | 52 | T24 | CUT | 7 |
| LPGA Championship LPGA Championship The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour... |
DNP | DNP | CUT | T6 | T33 | T61 | T56 | CUT | CUT |
| U.S. Women's Open | T48 | DNP | T22 | T37 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T53 | T52 |
| Women's British Open Women's British Open The Women's British Open is a leading event in women's professional golf and the only tournament which is classified as a major championship by both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been called the Ricoh Women's British Open, for sponsorship reasons... |
DNP | DNP | CUT | T13 | T28 | T45 | T58 | T64 | T3 |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship Kraft Nabisco Championship The Kraft Nabisco Championship is one of the four major championships on the LPGA Tour. It was founded in 1972 by Dinah Shore and has been classified as a major since 1983... |
CUT | CUT |
| LPGA Championship LPGA Championship The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour... |
T25 | CUT |
| U.S. Women's Open | T8 | CUT |
| Women's British Open Women's British Open The Women's British Open is a leading event in women's professional golf and the only tournament which is classified as a major championship by both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been called the Ricoh Women's British Open, for sponsorship reasons... |
T9 | CUT |
DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
LPGA Tour career summary
| Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings ($ United States dollar The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies.... ) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 2001 LPGA Tour The 2001 LPGA Tour was the 52nd season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 12 to November 18. The season consisted of 38 official money events. Annika Sörenstam won the most tournaments, eight. She also led the money list with earnings of $2,105,868.This was... |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T48 | n/a | 74.00 | ||
| 2003 2003 LPGA Tour The 2003 LPGA Tour was the 54th season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from March 13 to November 23. The season consisted of 31 official money events. Annika Sörenstam won the most tournaments, six... |
28 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | T4 | 215,632 | 49 | 72.37 | |
| 2004 2004 LPGA Tour The 2004 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from March through December 2004. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association . This was the 55th season since the LPGA Tour... |
31 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 636,290 | 15 | 71.22 | T21 |
| 2005 2005 LPGA Tour The 2005 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from February through December 2005. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association... |
30 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 621,149 | 19 | 71.66 | 21 |
| 2006 2006 LPGA Tour The 2006 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from February through December 2006. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association... |
29 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | T5 | 355,656 | 35 | 72.24 | 52 |
| 2007 2007 LPGA Tour The 2007 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that took place from February through December 2007. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association... |
29 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 626,075 | 23 | 72.18 | 26 |
| 2008 2008 LPGA Tour The 2008 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that took place from February through December 2008. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association... |
30 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | T2 | 678,598 | 27 | 71.85 | 32 |
| 2009 2009 LPGA Tour The 2009 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that took place from February through November 2009. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association .... |
24 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | T3 | 344,055 | 38 | 72.29 | 49 |
| 2010 2010 LPGA Tour The 2010 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that began in Thailand on February 13, 2010 and ended in Florida on December 5, 2010... |
24 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | T2 | 436,050 | 26 | 72.17 | 38 |
| 2011 2011 LPGA Tour The 2011 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that began in Thailand on February 17, 2011 and had its last official event end on November 20, 2011 in Florida... |
21 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T13 | 149,275 | 58 | 72.86 | 56 |
- official through November 21, 2011
Solheim Cup record
| Year | Total Matches | Total W-L-H | Singles W-L-H | Foursomes W-L-H | Fourballs W-L-H | Points Won | Points % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 10 | 6-2-2 | 3-0-0 | 2-1-1 | 1-1-1 | 7.0 | 70.0 |
| 2005 2005 Solheim Cup The 9th Solheim Cup Match was held between September 9 and September 11, 2005 at Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana, USA. Team USA won the trophy for the sixth time by a score of 15½ to 12½ points... |
4 | 2-1-1 | 1-0-0 def L. Kreutz Ludivine Kreutz Ludivine Kreutz is a French professional golfer. She was French Amateur Champion in 1995 and joined the Ladies European Tour in 1998. She has won three titles on the tour and finished sixth on the Order of Merit in both 2003 and 2005... 5&4 |
1-0-1 halved w/ P. Hurst Pat Hurst Pat Hurst is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.Hurst's father is American and her mother is originally from Japan. She was born in San Leandro, California and raised in California.-Amateur career:... , won w/ N. Gulbis Natalie Gulbis Natalie Anne Gulbis is an American professional golfer of Latvian descent who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.-Golf career:... 4&2 |
0-1-0 lost w/ P. Hurst Pat Hurst Pat Hurst is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.Hurst's father is American and her mother is originally from Japan. She was born in San Leandro, California and raised in California.-Amateur career:... 4&2 |
2.5 | 62.5 |
| 2009 2009 Solheim Cup The 11th Solheim Cup Matches were held between August 21 and August 23, 2009 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois in the United States... |
4 | 3-1-0 | 1-0-0 def T. Elosegui Tania Elosegui Tania Elósegui is a professional golfer from Spain.Elósegui was born in San Sebastian, Spain. She started playing golf at age 9, and had a successful amateur career before turning professional.... 2 up |
1-1-0 won w/ N. Gulbis Natalie Gulbis Natalie Anne Gulbis is an American professional golfer of Latvian descent who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.-Golf career:... 4&2, lost w/N. Gulbis Natalie Gulbis Natalie Anne Gulbis is an American professional golfer of Latvian descent who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.-Golf career:... 5&4 |
1-0-0 won w/ M. Wie Michelle Wie Michelle Sung Wie is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA Tour event... 5&4 |
3 | 75.0 |
| 2011 2011 Solheim Cup The 2011 Solheim Cup was the 12th Solheim Cup matches, held between 23 September and 25 September 2011 at Killeen Castle in County Meath in Ireland... |
2 | 1-0-1 | 1-0-0 def M. Hjorth Maria Hjorth Maria Anna "Mimmi" Hjorth is a Swedish professional golfer. She attended the University of Stirling in Scotland. She won more than twenty amateur titles including the 1995 European Ladies Amateur Championship. She turned professional in 1996 and played mainly on the Ladies European Tour that year... 4&2 |
0-0-1 halved w/ R. O'Toole Ryann O'Toole Ryann Ashley O'Toole is an American female professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour and the Futures Tour.-Amateur career:... |
1.5 | 75.0 |