Inbee Park
Height: 5 ft 6 in
Born: July 12, 1988
Birthplace: South Korea
Turned Pro: 2006
Sponsors: Srixon, KB Financial
Inbee Park has already won five women’s professional Majors at the tender age of 26. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Park began playing golf at age ten. Her family moved to the United States two years later to nurture Park’s skills and lay the foundation for her eventual career.
She was a quick study, winning nine events on the American Junior Golf Association and earning Rolex Junior All-American honors five times. Park made it to the semi-finals of the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Park completed high school in Las Vegas and petitioned the LPGA for permission to attempt to qualify for the LPGA as a 17-year old. Park had already competed three years in a row at the Kraft Nabisco Championship (a women’s Major) from 2004 through 2006. The LPGA denied her request and Park, after briefly attending the University of Nevada Las Vegas, joined the Duramed Futures Tour.
Inbee dominated this tour, earning 11 top ten performances and along the way qualified for her 2007 LPGA Tour card.
Inbee played well her first year on tour and finished 37th on the money list. In 2008, she made history. As a 19-year old, she won the Women’s U.S. Open at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota. She became the youngest winner in the history of the event. She won by four shots over Sweden’s Helen Alfredsson.
After an-off year in 2009, Park returned to form in 2010. She finished in the top ten at all four Majors and finished the year as the 12th ranked player in the world. After some more ups and downs, Inbee won her second career Major with victory at the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Championship. She followed that up at the next Major by winning the LPGA Championship. Those back to back wins fueled an incredible run for Park who has continued to sometimes dominate women’s golf the past two years.
Park has won 14 times on the LPGA Tour, including 5 Major championships. She ended both the 2013 and 2014 seasons as the number one ranked player in the Women’s World Golf Rankings.
