Updated: Jan, 2012

INBEE PARK

The Facts

Birthday: July 12, 1988
Rookie Year on LPGA: 2007
Birthplace: South Korea
American Home City: Las Vegas, NV
Best LPGA Finish: Win (2008 US Women's Open)
Best LPGA Major Finish:
Win (2008 US Women's Open)
Best Score: 64 (2007, 2008, 2011)
Best Scoring Average for a year: 70.83 (2010)
Best Season Money Total:
$1,138,370 (2008)
Best Season Money Position:
8th (2008)
Most Top Tens/Season:
11 (2010)

Rookie of the Year finish: 4th

Height: 5' 6"
2012 LPGA Status: Category 1
AKA: In-Bee
How's her English?: Fluent
Sponsors: Pankor

Road to the LPGA:
Finished third on 2006 Futures Tour Money List to earn 2007 exempt card on LPGA

Capsule Bio

In-Bee Park was a top junior golfer in Korea who quickly made waves when she moved to America. Her biggest splash came at the 2002 US Girls Championship, where she won medalist honors during the stroke play portion, then proceeded to win the match play as well, the first player to do both since 1997. She went on to win the AJGA US Girls Junior Championship, and finished 2nd in two other events. This won her the 2002 Polo Golf Junior Player of the Year award, the youngest to ever do so.

In 2003, her success continued. She played well defending her title at the US Girl's Championship. She started by winning medalist honors during the stroke play section, then made her way methodically to the finals, where she met Sukjin Lee-Wuesthoff for the championship. Alas, after carving out a five-up lead in just eight holes, she faltered, and Lee-Wuesthoff went on to capture the crown. It was the first all-Korean final in Girl's Championship history.

In 2004, In-Bee did not make it to the finals of the Girl's Championship, although she did, for the third straight year, win medalist honors for the low total during stroke play. She also lost in the third round of the Women's Amateur. However, she also got a chance to play in an LPGA event, the Takefuji Classic, and made the most of it, finishing tied for 8th. Indeed, if a few more breaks had gone her way, she might have had a shot at the win.

Galleries

2007 Photos
Photos
Seoul Sisters Pix
In-Bee requested a special exemption to be allowed to join the LPGA before her 17th birthday, but was turned down. Thus, she remained an amateur at the start of the 2006 season; she turned pro after she graduated from high school in May. Meanwhile, Song Hee Kim had petitioned the Futures Tour to be allowed to join, and the tour responded by lowering the minimum age limit to 17 from 18. Thus, In-Bee was able to become a full member of that tour right from the start of her pro career.

In-Bee played well on the Futures Tour. Although she did not win an event, she notched multiple top finishes and wound up in third place on the Futures Tour money list. Thus, she earned her exemption for the 2007 LPGA season.

In 2007, In-Bee started to spell her name Inbee, perhaps to make it easier to remember for fans. Her rookie year on tour was a rough struggle at first. Until June, she missed more cuts than she made, and her best finish was a tie for 45th. But all that changed at the US Women's Open. Perhaps remembering how well she had played USGA events as a junior, she did wonderfully there, eventually finishing tied for 4th, by far her best finish of the year. She played well at the British Open as well, just missing a top ten.

Her best result of her career came a few weeks later in Portland. She started the week all right, but on the final day caught fire, shooting a blistering 8 under par 64 that catapulted her all the way into the top five. By the end of the day, her rally was good enough for a tie for second. She finished the year in the top forty on the money list, securing a two year exempt card on tour and winding up fourth in the Rookie of the Year standings. All in all, it had been a wonderful year for her on tour.

If 2007 was a strong season for Inbee, 2008 was a historic one. She quickly notched three straight top tens, including one at the year's first Major, and continued her strong play thereafter. But it was at the US Women's Open that she became a star. The previous year, she had finished tied for 4th, and in 2008, she found herself contending for the title on Sunday. While all around her collapsed, she played brilliantly, eventually capturing the title by four shots. In winning this event, the biggest in all women's golf, she became the third Korean to collect that crown, and the youngest ever champion, beating the record previously held by her idol, Se Ri Pak. She revealed that she had taken up the game only two days after watching Se Ri win this very title in 1998; things had indeed come full circle for the Korean golf explosion.

Inbee struggled a bit after this win, but she still collected more than a million dollars in earnings in 2008. She also earned her first major sponsorship, with SK Telecom, as a direct result of her win. She returned home to Korea as a heroine just a few days after her amazing accomplishment.

Inbee's weird post-Open malaise continued in 2009. She finally started to show signs of life mid-year with a tie for 14th at the LPGA Championship and two other top 30s at the next two Majors. But it wasn't until the end of the year that she finally achieved her first top tens, two in a row to finish the year.

Inbee actually had her best 2009 result on the KLPGA. At the Nefs Masterpiece, she got into a playoff with Bo Mi Lee, but Lee prevailed on the second hole.

At the end of the year, Inbee entered Japanese LPGA Qualifying School. She succeeded in earning a card on the JLPGA, and played both tours in 2010. Indeed, Park's start on the JLPGA tour was nothing short of astonishing. She finished tied for 2nd with Jiyai Shin at her very first JLPGA event of the year, although she lost to another Korean rookie, Sun Ju Ahn, by five shots. In her second event, she actually had the top score at the end of the week, but then was assessed a two stroke penalty for not replacing her ball after it moved on a green. This downgraded her to another second. Shifting to America, she notched yet another 2nd at the Kia Classic, before returning to Japan to once again finish second, this time losing a playoff. She finally got her first win the week after that, but in her next event, she finished - second! All in all, it was a great year in Japan for Inbee. In limited action she notched two wins, her other win being the final event of the year, the Ricoh Cup, which was also a Major. In all, she had 10 top tens in 14 starts.

Her LPGA year was also very impressive. She shattered her record for most top tens in a year, collecting 11, including top tens in all four Majors. She did not win, but had a second (at the aforementioned Kia Classic), a third, and a fourth among those 11 top tens. She finished 11th on the money list, a fantastic return to form after struggling so much after her Open win.

2011 was not so good a season for Park, although she still finished 31st on the money list. On the LPGA tour, she had three top tens. Her best moment came at the Ricoh British Women's Open in August. She shot a second round 64 to move into a share of the lead. She was not able to hold on, however, finishing 7th in the end. She also had a tie for 6th at the US Women's Open, and made it to the round of 16 at the Sybase Match Play.

Inbee did better on the JLPGA in 2011, capturing a win at the Daikin Orchid Ladies Open, the first event of the season. She won by three strokes over Japanese star Miki Saiki, and was 4 ahead of Bo Mee Lee and Bo Bae Song.

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