Jane Park
Encyclopedia
Jane Park is an American professional golf
er who plays on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA
) Tour. Before turning professional, Park reached the finals of the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship
and 2004 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship
, and won the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. She also tied for low amateur at the 2006 U.S. Women's Open
. Since joining the LPGA in 2007
, she has earned more than $900,000 and recorded six top-10 finishes.
, Illinois
, Park began to play golf when she was 12 years old. In August 2003, 16-year-old Park reached the finals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, where she lost to Virada Nirapathpongporn
2 and 1
. The following year, Park made it to the finals of the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, where she faced Julieta Granada
. After the 18-hole match finished all square, Granada won on the second extra hole. Three weeks later, Park won the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, defeating Amanda McCurdy 2-up in the title match.
In addition to her three appearances in USGA
event finals, Park played on the U.S. Curtis Cup
team in 2004 and 2006 and the UCLA Bruins
college team in 2005, when she was a first-team All-America
n. Following a tie for 10th at the 2006 U.S. Women's Open
, which was tied for the highest finish by an amateur that year, she turned professional in August 2006.
in December, Park tied for 18th place, outside the top 15, which only secured her non-exempt (conditional) status on the LPGA Tour for 2007
. With a partial LPGA schedule in 2007, she spent time on the Futures Tour
developmental circuit. After finishing 109th on the LPGA Tour money list, Park returned to the Final Qualifying Tournament in December, where she won with a 17-under-par
total and gained full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2008
.
During her first full season on the LPGA Tour, Park won over $630,000 to finish 29th on the money list. In 26 events, she recorded four top-10 finishes, including ties for second at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay
and P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship
. In 2009, Park had two top-10 finishes in 19 events; a sixth-place tie at the HSBC Women's Champions
was her highest finish of the season. Park did not have a top-20 finish in the 2010 season
, earning $78,572 for the year.
LA = Low amateur
DNP = did not play
"T" = tied
CUT = missed the half-way cut
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10s.
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er who plays on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA
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...
) Tour. Before turning professional, Park reached the finals of the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship
United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship
The U.S. Women's Amateur is the leading golf tournament in the United States for female amateur golfers. It is played annually and is one of the 13 United States national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association . Female amateurs from all nations are eligible to compete...
and 2004 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship
United States Girls' Junior Golf Championship
The United States Girls' Junior Championship is one of the thirteen U.S. national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association. It is open to amateur girls who are under 18 on the last day of the competition and have a USGA handicap index of 18.4 or less...
, and won the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. She also tied for low amateur at the 2006 U.S. Women's Open
2006 U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship
The 2006 U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship was contested from June 30 to July 4 at Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island. It was the 61st edition of the U.S. Women's Open....
. Since joining the LPGA in 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...
, she has earned more than $900,000 and recorded six top-10 finishes.
Early life and amateur career
Born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Park began to play golf when she was 12 years old. In August 2003, 16-year-old Park reached the finals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, where she lost to Virada Nirapathpongporn
Virada Nirapathpongporn
Virada Nirapathpongporn is a Thai former professional golfer who won the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur.Nirapathpongporn was born in Bangkok, Thailand. She attended Duke University where she won the 2002 NCAA Division I Championship. She graduated in 2004 with a degree in psychology. She was voted the...
2 and 1
Match play
Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; this is as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes...
. The following year, Park made it to the finals of the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, where she faced Julieta Granada
Julieta Granada
Julieta Granada is a Paraguayan professional golfer who plays on the United States based LPGA Tour and on the Ladies European Tour.-Amateur career:...
. After the 18-hole match finished all square, Granada won on the second extra hole. Three weeks later, Park won the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, defeating Amanda McCurdy 2-up in the title match.
In addition to her three appearances in USGA
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
event finals, Park played on the U.S. Curtis Cup
Curtis Cup
The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match . It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and the Ladies Golf Union and is contested by teams representing the United States and "Great Britain and Ireland"...
team in 2004 and 2006 and the UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
college team in 2005, when she was a first-team All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n. Following a tie for 10th at the 2006 U.S. Women's Open
United States Women's Open Championship (golf)
The United States Women's Open Golf Championship, one of thirteen national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association , is one of the LPGA's major championships along with the LPGA Championship, the Women's British Open, and the Kraft Nabisco Championship...
, which was tied for the highest finish by an amateur that year, she turned professional in August 2006.
Professional career
At the 2006 LPGA Final Qualifying TournamentQualifying school
In professional golf the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S. based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the tour for the following season, otherwise known as a...
in December, Park tied for 18th place, outside the top 15, which only secured her non-exempt (conditional) status on the LPGA Tour for 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...
. With a partial LPGA schedule in 2007, she spent time on the Futures Tour
FUTURES Tour
The LPGA Futures Tour, previously styled in uppercase as FUTURES Tour and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed FUTURES Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour...
developmental circuit. After finishing 109th on the LPGA Tour money list, Park returned to the Final Qualifying Tournament in December, where she won with a 17-under-par
Stroke play
Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf. It involves counting the total number of strokes taken on each hole during a given round, or series of rounds...
total and gained full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 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...
.
During her first full season on the LPGA Tour, Park won over $630,000 to finish 29th on the money list. In 26 events, she recorded four top-10 finishes, including ties for second at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay
SBS Open at Turtle Bay
The SBS Open at Turtle Bay was a golf tournament for professional female golfers, played on the LPGA Tour that took place between 2005 and 2009 on the Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, Hawaii, USA....
and P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship
P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship
The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, in full the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G is a golf tournament for professional female golfers that is part of the LPGA Tour. It was first played in 2007 at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas.Procter & Gamble , a manufacturer of a...
. In 2009, Park had two top-10 finishes in 19 events; a sixth-place tie at the HSBC Women's Champions
HSBC Women's Champions
The HSBC Women's Champions is a golf tournament for professional female golfers that is part of the LPGA Tour. It was played for the first time in 2008 at the Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore....
was her highest finish of the season. Park did not have a top-20 finish in the 2010 season
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...
, earning $78,572 for the year.
Results in LPGA majors
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship Kraft Nabisco Championship The Kraft Nabisco Championship is one of the four major championships on the LPGA Tour. It was founded in 1972 by Dinah Shore and has been classified as a major since 1983... |
DNP | T24 | T50 | DNP | DNP | CUT | T30 | T44 | T41 |
| LPGA Championship LPGA Championship The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T74 | T34 | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| U.S. Women's Open | T30 | CUT | CUT | T10 TLA | T58 | T42 | CUT | DNP | CUT |
| Women's British Open Women's British Open The Women's British Open is a leading event in women's professional golf and the only tournament which is classified as a major championship by both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been called the Ricoh Women's British Open, for sponsorship reasons... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T24 | T17 | CUT | CUT |
LA = Low amateur
DNP = did not play
"T" = tied
CUT = missed the half-way cut
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10s.
LPGA Tour career summary
| Season | Age | Tournaments played | Cuts made | Wins | 2nds | 3rds | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings ($) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T30 | n/a | 74.00 | ||
| 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... |
17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T18 | n/a | 73.11 | ||
| 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... |
18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T50 | n/a | 74.70 | ||
| 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... |
19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | T10 | 9,164 | 74.11 | ||
| 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... |
20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T17 | 64,469 | 109 | 72.62 | 34 |
| 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... |
21 | 26 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | T2 | 631,357 | 29 | 71.83 | 31 |
| 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 .... |
22 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | T6 | 194,856 | 60 | 72.82 | 84 |
| 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... |
23 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T21 | 78,572 | 83 | 72.89 | 66 |
| 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... |
24 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T29 | 42,261 | 98 | 74.12 | 116 |
- official as of September 20, 2011