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Tiffany Joh is one of a number of promising
young Korean American golfers who have been making their presence
felt in women's amateur golf. In 2005, she managed to making
it to the match play portion of the US Women's Amateur, where
she lost in the second round. But her most impressive result
came at that year's ANZ Ladies Masters. An important event
in Australia, where it is considered a Major, Tiffany qualified
for it because she had won the Aaron Baddely World Junior
Championship in 2004. She made the most of her time at the
ANZ, shooting a tournament record tying 63 in the second round,
which included a double eagle. She wound up finishing tied
for 13th.
In 2006, now a Freshman at UCLA, she was invited
to participate again in the ANZ, and far surpassed her earlier
results. In fact, she put herself into contention early, and
hovered around the lead all week. On Sunday, she played in
the final group with 16 year old Korean amateur Amy Yang and
French pro Ludivine Kreutz. After Tiffany made a birdie on
the 17th hole, she moved to within just one shot of Yang.
Yang hit her approach into the stands on 18, and Amy put her
third shot to within just a few feet. After Yang made bogey,
Joh just needed to make the short par putt to get into a playoff.
Alas, she missed it, and Yang went on to beat Catherine Cartwright
in the playoff, becoming the youngest winner in European Tour
history.
Although Tiffany didn't win, she finished
third. With her sparkling, bubbly personality and quickness
with a quip, she won legions of fans in Australia.
After her Freshman year, Tiffany played at
the US Women's Amateur Pub Links, one of the most important
events in women's Amateur golf. She played brilliantly, eventually
making it to the finals, where she confronted another Korean
American, 14 year old Hawaiian Kimberly Kim (whom Joh quickly
dubbed 'Kim Squared'). Kim had been playing well all week,
even destroying Mina Harigae, the number one amateur in the
country, by a score of 9 and 7. But she didn't have an answer
for Tiffany's methodical play, and Joh won the tournament
6 & 5.
In 2007, Tiffany continued to play at UCLA.
Among her highlights that year were finishing 5th at the NCAA
Championship and winning the PAC 10 Championship. She was
a second team All American. She also qualified to play at
the Safeway Classic, an LPGA event, and made the most of it,
capturing a top 25 finish.
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