NA YEON CHOI

The Facts

Capsule Bio

Na Yeon Choi started playing golf at the age of ten. Within less than a year, she was already winning tournaments. She quickly became one of the top amateurs in Korea.

Choi made her biggest splash when, at age 17, she won the ADT-CAPS Invitational on the KLPGA tour. She beat Se Ri Pak, who finished second, by four shots. This turned her into an instant celebrity in Korea. She turned pro shortly thereafter, and quickly landed several lucrative sponsorships.

In 2005, Choi played on the KLPGA tour, where she did quite well. Although she lost the Rookie of the Year award to Hee Young Park, she was second in that race, and finished top ten on the money list. She had another strong season in 2006, highlighted by a win at the third KB Star Tour event. She wound up finishing third on the money list, and was thus picked to play for the Korean team at the Kyoraku Cup.

Na Yeon played some LPGA events in 2007, but didn't do too well at them. She made a bigger splash on the KLPGA. During the first part of the season, she was shut out of the winner's circle, but she eventually had several big finishes, including a win at the Shinsegae Cup in September. She wound up finishing 4th on the year end money list.

Meanwhile, she was already thinking about her next career step. She won the second LPGA Qualifying School sectional in 2007. She thus came into Q-School looking for an exempt card, but she just missed one, finishing two shots out of the money. Nonetheless, she did grab a high conditional status, and will probably appear in a number of LPGA events in 2008.

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