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Many people are not aware that young golf
superstar Vicky Hurst is an American Seoul Sister. In fact,
her mother, Koko, is Korean, and her father was a Caucasian
American. Not only does she have Korean in her blood, she
also comes by her golf talent honestly. Her parents were both
avid golfers: in fact, her mother was playing golf while pregnant
with Vicky when her water broke on the 16th hole (she was
winning, too!). Needless to say, she didn't finish that match,
but soon thereafter, a new golf prodigy was brought into the
world.
Vicky grew up in Florida, where she idolized
Se Ri Pak, who, when Vicky was 8, had her marvelous victory
at the US Women's Open. After a few years of hard work, Vicky
became one of the very best girl golfers in the world. In
2006, she very nearly won the US Girls' Junior championship,
but made a few critical mistakes in the final few holes to
lose to fellow Korean American Jenny Shin. Still, by mid-July
of that year, she had broken into the top five in the girls'
rankings.
Tragedy struck her that summer. She was slated
to play the Ginn Open, when she received the news from home
that her father had died. She was not able to play the Ginn
that year, obviously, but was invited back in 2007 (she missed
the cut). Since her father's death, she has dedicated her
career to him.
Hurst continued to climb the AJGA rankings.
She won the 2007 Betsy Rawls Girls Championship and climbed
to second in the rankings. Her win at the season ending Ping
Invitational moved her into the top spot and won her the Rolex
Junior Player of the Year award.
Vicky played in that year's Futures Tour Q-School,
and stunned everyone by finishing first. Though only 17, she
decided to turn pro and join the Futures Tour in 2008.
It didn't take Vicky long to make an impact
on tour. In just her third event, she found herself in a playoff
with Korean teen star MJ Hur, which she lost. But the very
next week it was Vicky's turn to beat Hur. With that win,
she broke Song Hee Kim's record as the youngest professional
woman to win a pro event in the US. But it was her next win
at the Duramed Futures Tour Player Championship, the one Major
on the tour, that cemented her spot at the top of the money
list, a position she held most of the rest of the season.
Hurst would go on to win 5 events in total (one unofficial)
and shatter the record for most money made in a single season
on the Futures Tour. She will be one of the top prospects
for Rookie of the Year on the LPGA in 2009.
Vicky also got a chance to player in several
LPGA events in 2008. Her best result was a tie for 21st at
the SemGroup Championship. Amazingly, she did not qualify
for the US Women's Open in 2008, but will doubtless have many
chances to play that event in the future.
Vicky's rookie year was pretty good all in
all. Although she did not win in 2009, she did notch three
top tens and several more top twenties. She did fail to qualify
for the US Women's Open for the second straight year, but
still finished 44th on the money list to easily maintain her
top status on tour for 2010.
Hurst had her best finish yet at an LPGA event
in 2010, when she challenged Na Yeon Choi down the stretch
at the Hana Bank Championship, ending up second. Hurst had
only one other top ten that season, but her money total was
better than in 2009, and she finished inside the top 30 on
the money list (28th) for the first time.
2011 was a bit of a step back for Hurst. She
had only one top ten, a fifth place finish at the Safeway
Classic. She finished 45th on the money list. The highlight
of her year was when, immediately after her fifth place finish
in Portland, she was made a Captain's selection for the her
first Solheim Cup team. She ended up winning her singles match
but lost when paired with Brittany Lincicome.
Vicky had a pretty good 2012 season. She notched
three top tens and earned over $400,000 on the year, just
a little worse than her best money list total for a season.
She also made top 20s in three of the 4 Majors; all those
finishes topped her previous best Major finish.
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