Birdie Kim
Birdie Kim 김주연 | |||||||||
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Kim before 2009 Women's British Open | |||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Full name | Birdie Kim | ||||||||
Born | (1981-08-26) 26 August 1981 (age 43) Iksan, South Korea | ||||||||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||
Sporting nationality | South Korea | ||||||||
Spouse | Bae Gyu Lee (m.2007) | ||||||||
Career | |||||||||
College | Korea University | ||||||||
Turned professional | 2000 | ||||||||
Current tour(s) | LPGA Tour (joined 2004) | ||||||||
Former tour(s) | Symetra Tour (2001–03, 2012) | ||||||||
Professional wins | 4 | ||||||||
Number of wins by tour | |||||||||
LPGA Tour | 1 | ||||||||
Epson Tour | 3 | ||||||||
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 1) | |||||||||
Chevron Championship | T45: 2006 | ||||||||
Women's PGA C'ship | T25: 2007 | ||||||||
U.S. Women's Open | Won: 2005 | ||||||||
Women's British Open | CUT: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 | ||||||||
Evian Championship | DNP | ||||||||
Medal record
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Birdie Kim (Korean: 김주연; born Ju-Yun Kim 26 August 1981) is a South Korean professional golfer. Her career highlight is winning the 2005 U.S. Women's Open at Cherry Hills Country Club. In the last round, she was tied for the lead on the 18th hole with amateurs Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lang. Her second shot found a green-side bunker. She holed out from the bunker to take the lead and ultimately won by two strokes.
Kim won the 1998–99 Korea Junior Championship. She turned professional in November 2000 and joined the Futures Tour, which is the second-tier women's golf tour in the United States, in 2001. Her rookie season on the main LPGA Tour was 2004, and was not successful as she only made three cuts in 20 events, but she retained her tour card by finishing tied 12th at the Qualifying School. She did somewhat better in early 2005, and picked up her first top ten finish that May, but her victory at the U.S. Women's Open was totally unexpected.
She changed her first name to Birdie in 2004, in an effort to distinguish herself from the numerous other Korean golfers named Kim in the women's golf world in the minds of non-Koreans.[1] Kim is a common surname in Korea, especially on the LPGA Tour.
In 2005, Kim earned a total of $715,006 and came in 13th for LPGA season money position. She married fellow pro golfer Bae Kyu Lee in December 2007.
A 2009 car accident derailed Kim's career and she had trouble making cuts on the LPGA. In 2012, she played in 12 events on the Symetra Tour, finishing second on the money list. Kim last played an LPGA-sanctioned event in 2015. Like Janet Alex in 1982 and Hilary Lunke in 2003, the U.S. Open was her only LPGA Tour win.
Professional wins
LPGA Tour wins (1)
Legend |
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LPGA Tour major championships (1) |
Other LPGA Tour (0) |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 26 Jun 2005 | U.S. Women's Open | 74-72-69-72=287 | +3 | 2 strokes | Brittany Lang Morgan Pressel |
Futures Tour wins
- 2001 Chumash Casino Futures Classic, Southwestern Bell Futures Classic
- 2003 Bank of Ann Arbor Futures Classic
Major championships
Wins (1)
Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | U.S. Women's Open | +3 (74-72-69-72=287) | 2 strokes | Brittany Lang, Morgan Pressel |
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order before 2015.
Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ANA Inspiration | T45 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||||||
Women's PGA Championship | CUT | 41 | T65 | T25 | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||||
U.S. Women's Open | 1 | CUT | T16 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | ||
Women's British Open | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | ||||||||
The Evian Championship ^ |
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Summary
- Starts – 26
- Wins – 1
- 2nd-place finishes – 0
- 3rd-place finishes – 0
- Top 3 finishes – 1
- Top 5 finishes – 1
- Top 10 finishes – 1
- Top 25 finishes – 3
- Missed cuts – 20
- Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (thrice)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1
Team appearances
Professional
References
- ^ Birdie Kim holds off Pressel for U.S. Open crown
External links
- Birdie Kim at the LPGA Tour official site
- v
- t
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- 1946 Patty Berg∞
- 1947 Betty Jameson
- 1948 Babe Zaharias
- 1949 Louise Suggs
- 1950 Babe Zaharias
- 1951 Betsy Rawls
- 1952 Louise Suggs
- 1953 Betsy Rawls†
- 1954 Babe Zaharias‡
- 1955 Fay Crocker‡
- 1956 Kathy Cornelius†
- 1957 Betsy Rawls
- 1958 Mickey Wright‡
- 1959 Mickey Wright
- 1960 Betsy Rawls
- 1961 Mickey Wright
- 1962 Murle Lindstrom
- 1963 Mary Mills‡
- 1964 Mickey Wright†
- 1965 Carol Mann
- 1966 Sandra Spuzich
- 1967 Catherine LaCoste‡#
- 1968 Susie Berning‡
- 1969 Donna Caponi
- 1970 Donna Caponi‡
- 1971 JoAnne Carner‡
- 1972 Susie Berning
- 1973 Susie Berning
- 1974 Sandra Haynie
- 1975 Sandra Palmer
- 1976 JoAnne Carner†
- 1977 Hollis Stacy
- 1978 Hollis Stacy
- 1979 Jerilyn Britz
- 1980 Amy Alcott
- 1981 Pat Bradley
- 1982 Janet Alex
- 1983 Jan Stephenson
- 1984 Hollis Stacy
- 1985 Kathy Baker
- 1986 Jane Geddes†
- 1987 Laura Davies†
- 1988 Liselotte Neumann
- 1989 Betsy King
- 1990 Betsy King
- 1991 Meg Mallon
- 1992 Patty Sheehan†
- 1993 Lauri Merten
- 1994 Patty Sheehan
- 1995 Annika Sörenstam
- 1996 Annika Sörenstam
- 1997 Alison Nicholas
- 1998 Pak Se-ri†
- 1999 Juli Inkster
- 2000 Karrie Webb
- 2001 Karrie Webb
- 2002 Juli Inkster
- 2003 Hilary Lunke†
- 2004 Meg Mallon
- 2005 Birdie Kim
- 2006 Annika Sörenstam†
- 2007 Cristie Kerr
- 2008 Inbee Park
- 2009 Ji Eun-hee
- 2010 Paula Creamer
- 2011 Ryu So-yeon†
- 2012 Choi Na-yeon
- 2013 Inbee Park
- 2014 Michelle Wie
- 2015 Chun In-gee
- 2016 Brittany Lang†
- 2017 Park Sung-hyun
- 2018 Ariya Jutanugarn†
- 2019 Lee Jeong-eun
- 2020 Kim A-lim
- 2021 Yuka Saso†
- 2022 Minjee Lee
- 2023 Allisen Corpuz
- 2024 Yuka Saso