Na Yeon Choi (Korean: 최나연; [tɕʰwe najʌn]; born 28 October 1987) is a South Korean professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. In July 2012, she won the U.S. Women's Open for her first major championship.[2]
| Na Yeon Choi 최나연 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Choi at the 2013 Women's British Open | |||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | 28 October 1987 Seoul, South Korea | ||||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||||
| Sporting nationality |  South Korea | ||||
| Residence | Orlando, Florida[1] | ||||
| Career | |||||
| Turned professional | 2004 | ||||
| Current tour(s) | LPGA Tour (joined 2008) | ||||
| Former tour(s) | KLPGA Tour (joined 2004) | ||||
| Professional wins | 15 | ||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||
| LPGA Tour | 9 | ||||
| LPGA of Korea Tour | 8 | ||||
| Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 1) | |||||
| Chevron Championship | T6: 2008 | ||||
| Women's PGA C'ship | 8th: 2009 | ||||
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 2012 | ||||
| Women's British Open | T2: 2013 | ||||
| Evian Championship | 5th: 2014 | ||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||
| |||||
| Choi Na-yeon | |
| Hangul | 최나연 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 崔蘿蓮 |
| Revised Romanization | Choe Na Yeon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Choi Na Yŏn |
Amateur career
editAt age 17 in 2004, Choi won the ADT CAPS Invitational on the LPGA of Korea Tour (KLPGA), beating future Hall-of-Famer Se Ri Pak by four strokes. Choi turned professional shortly thereafter, in November 2004. She won once each year on the KLPGA Tour in 2004 through 2007.
Professional career
editIn 2007, Choi played in the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship, an event co-sponsored by the LPGA and KLPGA Tours, and finished eighth. She attended LPGA Qualifying Tournament in the fall of 2007, but finished two shots shy of earning a fully exempt Tour card for the 2008 season. Her non-exempt card meant she was not automatically eligible for every event, yet her high conditional status and consistent good play put her in nearly every tournament. She won over $1 million and finished 11th on the 2008 money list with nine top-10 finishes in 27 events played. She finished second in the LPGA Rookie of the Year race, just behind winner Yani Tseng.[3]
In 2009, Choi won twice on the LPGA Tour. In October she won the 20-player Samsung World Championship. Two weeks later she won the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship, an event co-sanctioned with the KLPGA.[4] Her third LPGA Tour win came in July 2010 at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at which she beat three other players on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.[5] In 2010, Choi was both the LPGA Tour money leader and the leading scorer (Vare Trophy).[6]
Professional wins (15)
editLPGA Tour wins (9)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| Major championships (1) |
| Other LPGA Tour (8) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | Earnings ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 Sep 2009 | Samsung World Championship | 71-67-63-71=272 | −16 | 1 stroke |  Ai Miyazato
|
250,000 |
| 2 | 1 Nov 2009 | Hana Bank-KOLON Championship | 68-71-67=206 | −10 | 1 stroke |  Maria Hjorth Yani Tseng
|
255,000 |
| 3 | 4 Jul 2010 | Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic | 64-67-68-71=270 | −14 | Playoff |  Christina Kim In-Kyung Kim Song-Hee Kim
|
150,000 |
| 4 | 31 Oct 2010 | LPGA Hana Bank Championship | 69-68-69=206 | −10 | 2 strokes | Vicky Hurst
|
270,000 |
| 5 | 16 Oct 2011 | Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia | 66-68-67-68=269 | −15 | 1 stroke | Yani Tseng
|
285,000 |
| 6 | 8 Jul 2012 | U.S. Women's Open | 71-72-65-73=281 | −7 | 4 strokes | Amy Yang
|
585,000 |
| 7 | 18 Nov 2012 | CME Group Titleholders | 67-68-69-70=274 | −14 | 2 strokes | So Yeon Ryu
|
500,000 |
| 8 | 31 Jan 2015 | Coates Golf Championship | 68-70-66-68=272 | −16 | 1 stroke | Jang Ha-na Lydia Ko Jessica Korda
|
225,000 |
| 9 | 28 Jun 2015 | Walmart NW Arkansas Championship | 66-63-69=198 | −15 | 2 strokes | Mika Miyazato
|
300,000 |
LPGA Tour playoff record (1–3)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | Evian Masters | Helen Alfredsson  Angela Park
|
Alfredsson won with birdie on third extra hole Park eliminated by birdie on first hole |
| 2 | 2010 | Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic | Christina Kim In-Kyung Kim Song-Hee Kim
|
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 3 | 2011 | Safeway Classic |  Suzann Pettersen
|
Lost to par on first extra hole |
| 4 | 2012 | HSBC Women's Champions |  Shanshan Feng Jenny Shin Angela Stanford
|
Stanford won with par on third extra hole Choi eliminated by par on second hole Feng eliminated by par on first hole |
LPGA of Korea Tour wins (8)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 Nov 2004 | ADT CAPS Invitational (as an amateur) | 68-66-68=202 | −14 | 4 strokes | Pak Se-ri Han Ji-yeon Kim So-hee
|
| 2 | 3 Jun 2005 | Lakeside Ladies Open | 71-69-71=211 | −5 | 1 stroke | Lim Seo-hyun Shin Eun-jeong Kim Seon-A
|
| 3 | 30 Sep 2006 | KB Star Tour 3rd Tournament in Hampyeong | 68-67-69=204 | −12 | 3 strokes | Jiyai Shin
|
| 4 | 21 Sep 2007 | Shinsegae Cup KLPGA Championship | 68-69-68=205 | −11 | 3 strokes | Ji Eun-hee
|
| 5 | 1 Nov 2009 | Hana Bank-KOLON Championship (co-sanctioned with LPGA) | 67-68-71=206 | −10 | 1 stroke | Yani Tseng Maria Hjorth
|
| 6 | 31 Oct 2010 | LPGA Hana Bank Championship (co-sanctioned with LPGA) | 69-69-68=206 | −10 | 2 strokes | Vicky Hurst
|
| 7 | 4 Sep 2011 | Hanwha Finance Classic | 72-75-71-69=287 | −1 | 4 strokes | Choi Hye-yong
|
| 8 | 9 Dec 2012 | Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters | 73-68-72=213 | −3 | Playoff | Teresa Lu
|
Major championships
editWins (1)
edit| Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | U.S. Women's Open | −7 (71-72-65-73=281) | 4 strokes | Amy Yang
|
Results timeline
editResults not in chronological order before 2019.
| Tournament | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Championship | T6 | T40 | T27 | T47 | T8 | T32 | T16 | T29 | T18 | CUT | CUT | |||||
| U.S. Women's Open | CUT | T19 | T9 | T2 | CUT | 1 | T17 | T13 | T26 | CUT | T60 | CUT | T54 | CUT | ||
| Women's PGA Championship | T18 | 8 | CUT | T43 | DQ | T9 | T25 | T34 | CUT | CUT | T71 | CUT | ||||
| The Evian Championship ^ | T44 | 5 | WD | NT | ||||||||||||
| Women's British Open | T21 | T8 | T3 | T7 | T13 | T2 | CUT | T61 | CUT | |||||||
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
NT = no tournament
T = tied
Summary
edit| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 9 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 9 |
| Women's PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 7 |
| The Evian Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Women's British Open | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 7 |
| Totals | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 49 | 34 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (twice)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2009 LPGA – 2009 British Open)
LPGA Tour career summary
edit| Year | Tournaments played |
Cuts made |
Wins | 2nds | 3rds | Top 10s | Best finish |
Earnings ($) |
Money list rank |
Scoring average |
Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T14 | 18,136 | n/a | 73.80 | n/a |
| 2006 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T11 | 29,113 | n/a | 72.17 | n/a |
| 2007 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | T8 | 27,899 | n/a | 75.00 | n/a |
| 2008 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | T2 | 1,095,759 | 11 | 71.10 | 8 |
| 2009 | 26 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 1,341,078 | 6 | 70.51 | 7 |
| 2010 | 23 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 1,871,166 | 1 | 69.87 | 1 |
| 2011 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 1,357,382 | 3 | 70.53 | 2 |
| 2012 | 22 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1,981,834 | 2 | 70.49 | 5 |
| 2013 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 929,964 | 9 | 70.31 | 5 |
| 2014 | 26 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 945,813 | 13 | 70.54 | 10 |
| 2015 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 808,566 | 17 | 71.76 | 48 |
| 2016 | 24 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | T3 | 348,390 | 55 | 72.55 | 93 |
| 2017 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | T7 | 46,311 | 135 | 72.81 | 142 |
| 2018 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T62 | 2,988 | 177 | 74.40 | n/a |
| 2019 | 21 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | T3 | 132,699 | 95 | 72.15 | 109 |
| 2020 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T43 | 7,263 | 160 | 72.69 | n/a |
| 2021 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T17 | 68,025 | 126 | 72.44 | 121 |
| 2022 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T18 | 51,427 | 146 | 72.95 | 145 |
- official through 2022 season[7]
Team appearances
editProfessional
- Lexus Cup (representing Asia team): 2008
- International Crown (representing South Korea): 2014
References
edit- ^ LPGA.com, LPGA 2013 Player Guide Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "US Women's Open: South Korea's Na Yeon Choi wins by four shots". BBC Sport. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ "Ochoa clinches third Rolex award". Iseekgolf.com. 24 November 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "Choi Na-Yeon wins Hana Bank Kolon Championship". The Times of India. 1 November 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "Choi loses lead, then wins Farr in playoff". Golf Channel. Associated Press. 4 July 2010. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- ^ Lee, Yeong Ho (12 December 2010). "LPGA 상금왕 최나연, 기부천사로 '우뚝'". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ "Na Yeon Choi – Results". LPGA. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
External links
edit
- Choi Na-yeon at the LPGA Tour official site
- Choi Na-yeon at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site
- Profile on Seoul Sisters site