Grace Kim (golfer)

Last updated

Grace Kim
Mixed Team Round 3 Golf YOG18 15-10-2018 (005) (cropped).jpg
Personal information
Born (2000-12-13) 13 December 2000 (age 23)
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Height5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Sporting nationalityFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Residence Sydney, NSW, Australia
Career
Turned professional2021
Current tour(s) LPGA Tour (joined 2023)
WPGA Tour of Australasia
Former tour(s) Epson Tour
Professional wins6
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour1
ALPG Tour2
Epson Tour1
Other2
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron Championship CUT: 2023, 2024
Women's PGA C'ship 14th: 2023
U.S. Women's Open T13: 2023
Women's British Open T36: 2023
Evian Championship T51: 2024
Achievements and awards
Golf NSW Female Player of the Year2019
Medal record
Youth Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Buenos Aires Girls' individual
Korean National Sports Festival
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Seoul Int'l Women's individual

Grace Kim (born 13 December 2000) is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. She won the TPS Sydney on the ALPG Tour in 2021 and 2022. As an amateur, she won the Australian Girls' Amateur, Australian Women's Amateur and the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.

Contents

Career

Kim, raised in Greenacre, New South Wales by Korean-born parents, enjoyed a stellar amateur career and in 2019 reached No. 29 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking to become Australia's highest-ranked female amateur. She amassing a number of titles, including the 2017 Australian Girls' Amateur and the 2018 Annika Invitational Australasia in New Zealand with rounds of 72, 62 and 68 (−16). [1] After back-to-back wins in the NSW Women's Amateur in 2020 and 2021, she triumphed at the 2021 Australian Women's Amateur in Adelaide. [2]

She is a four-time recipient of the Karrie Webb Scholarship, and won an individual gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. She became Australia's second-ever competitor in the Augusta National Women's Amateur. [3]

Kim also played for the Australia National Team, and she won bronze at the 2017 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan. In 2018, she represented Australia at the Espirito Santo Trophy and Queen Sirikit Cup. She won the Patsy Hankins Trophy with the Asia/Pacific team in 2018.

In 2019, she participated in the Korean National Sports Festival, where she shot a 61, including a 28 on the first 9 holes, to comfortably win the international women's gold. [4]

Kim is a member of Avondale Golf Club and was co-captain of the NSW Women's team which defended their crown at the 2019 Australian Interstate Teams Matches. She was awarded Golf NSW's Female Golfer of the Year in 2019. [5]

Kim spent 7.5 months in the United States during 2021 and won two titles on the Women's All-Pro Tour as an amateur. [6] She finished tied 10th at the Prasco Charity Championship and competed in the U.S. Women's Amateur where she lost to semi-finalist Rachel Heck. [7]

Kim won the TPS Sydney on the ALPG Tour in 2021 and again in 2022 after she turned professional late 2021. She rose to 288th in the Women's World Golf Rankings in March 2022. She gained conditional status for the 2022 Epson Tour at LPGA Q-School. [8]

In April 2023, Kim won her first LPGA title winning the Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club. She won on the first playoff hole, beating Yu Liu and Sung Yu-jin with a birdie after both competitors ended up in bunkers on their second shots. [9]

Amateur wins

Source: [2]

Professional wins (6)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runners-upWinner's
share ($)
115 Apr 2023 Lotte Championship −12 (71-67-70-68=276)Playoff Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Yu Liu
Flag of South Korea.svg Sung Yu-jin
300,000

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12023 Lotte Championship Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Yu Liu
Flag of South Korea.svg Sung Yu-jin
Won with birdie on first extra hole
22024 Meijer LPGA Classic Flag of the United States.svg Lilia Vu
Flag of the United States.svg Lexi Thompson
Vu won with a birdie on third extra hole

ALPG Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
17 Mar 2021 TPS Sydney (as an amateur)67-70=137−52 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Breanna Gill
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Su-Hyun Oh
26 Mar 2022 TPS Sydney 70-67-65=202−111 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Cassie Porter

Epson Tour wins (1)

Women's All-Pro Tour wins (2)

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order.

Tournament202220232024
Chevron Championship CUTCUT
U.S. Women's Open T63T13
Women's PGA Championship 14T60
The Evian Championship CUTT51
Women's British Open T36T37
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Chevron Championship 00000020
U.S. Women's Open 00000122
Women's PGA Championship 00000122
The Evian Championship 00000021
Women's British Open 00000022
Totals000002107

Team appearances

Amateur

Source: [2]

LPGA Tour career summary

YearTournaments
played
Cuts
made*
Wins2nd3rdTop
10s
Best
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2018 100000CUTn/an/a77.00n/a
2019 100000CUTn/an/a75.50n/a
2020 100000CUTn/an/a74.00n/a
2021 Did not play
2022 110000T63n/an/a74.25n/a
2023 221610021959,4432970.8137
2024 12701012335,8634471.3242
Totals^34 (2023)23 (2023)110311,295,306268

^ Official as of 16 June 2024 [10] [11] [12]
*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

YearRankingSource
20191,228 [13]
2020961 [14]
2021646 [15]
2022181 [16]
202376 [17]
202469^ [18]

^ As of 17 June 2024

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References

  1. "Annika Invitational Australasia". Annika Foundation. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Grace Kim". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  3. "Grace Kim turns pro". Golf Australia. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  4. "Stunning 61 has Grace rolled in Korean gold". Golf Australia. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  5. "New South Wales Golf's finest recognised on Monday evening". PGA of Australia. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  6. 1 2 "2021 Women's All-Pro Tour Results". Women's All-Pro Tour. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  7. "2021 U.S. Women's Amateur". USGA. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  8. "Grace Kim "trending in the right direction" ahead of Epson Tour". SEN. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  9. "Australian Grace Kim wins Lotte Championship in playoff". ESPN. Associated Press. 15 April 2023.
  10. "Grace Kim stats". LPGA. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  11. "Grace Kim results". LPGA. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  12. "Career Money". LPGA. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  13. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.
  14. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
  15. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2021.
  16. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2022.
  17. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2023.
  18. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 17 June 2024.