Since we are in the year of the Summer Olympics, there needs to be some light shed on professional female golfers on the LPGA Tour. There is always talk about how "golf is a gentleman's sport." As a female golfer, I am getting very tired of the media not highlighting the fantastic talents of women golfers from around the world. Here are a few that you should know.
Lydia Ko
Lydia Ko is 19 years old and she is from New Zealand. Lydia was ranked the number one female golfer at the age of 17 years old, nine months; she is the youngest golfer in either the PGA or LPGA to be ranked number one. This is an amazing accomplishment because, in the golf world, the most common golfer we hear about because he is so young is Jordan Speith. Lydia won the Evian Championship in France in September 2015, this is another major accomplishment because she was the youngest woman to win a major championship at the age of 18 years old. To add to her success her closing round of the Evian Championship was a 63, and this is the lowest recorded final round in any Women's golf majors.
Inbee Park
Inbee Park is a 28-year-old golfer from South Korea. Inbee started playing golf at the age of 10, and by the age of 12, she moved to the United States to pursue a golf career. At the age of 25 Inbee was ranked the number one female golfer in the world. Inbee has won seven major championships in her career, including three consecutive major wins during the 2013 year. Inbee was the youngest female to win the U.S. Women's Open and the second women player to win the Women's PGA Championship three years back to back. Inbee is the seventh player to win four different majors during her career and to capture a career Grand Slam.
Lexi Thompson
Lexi Thompson is a 21-year-old golfer from the United States. Lexi was the youngest golfer to ever qualify to play in the U.S Women's open, she qualified to play at the age of 12. Lexi turned professional at the age of 15 and won the LPGA Classic at the age of 16. Lexi became the second youngest to win the Navistar LPGA Classic, at the age of 16 years old. She won her first major championship at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship. Lexi is not like a lot of golfers, she has a brother who is also a PGA golfer whose name is Nicholas Thompson.
Brooke M. Henderson
Brooke Henderson is an 18-year-old golfer from Canada. Brooke won the Canadian Women's Amateur in 2013 and then finished runner-up in 2014 at the U.S. Women's Amateur. In 2015, Brooke was named the Canadian and Ontario Female athlete of the year. On Aug. 18, 2015, Brooke was granted membership to the LPGA Tour effective immediately. In 2015 Brooke won the Suncoast Series Tour in Winter Garden, Flordia just after no longer being an amateur.
Sei Young Kim
Sei Young Kim is a 23-year-old golfer from South Korea. Sei plays on both the LPGA Korea Tour and the LPGA tour. Sei was won five times in the LPGA Korea tour and twice on the LPGA tour. Sei has won the 2015 Pure- Silk Bahamas LPGA classic and the 2015 LPGA Lotte Championship. Sei has won nine professional wins since she has become a professional. In 2015, Sei was named the LPGA Tour Rookie of the year.
Stacy Lewis
Stacy Lewis is a 31-year-old golfer from the United States. Stacy has won two major championships since she has turned professional. Stacy has won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2011 and the Women's British Open in 2013. She was ranked number one in Women's Golf rankings for four weeks in 2013, and she reclaimed that position in June 2014 with another victory in the ShopRite LPGA Classic. In Stacy's colic career she was a four-time All-American at the University of Arkansas. In 2006 Stacy won the Women's Western Amateur in 2007 Lewis won the MCAA Division I championship and was selected to be the Golf Digest Amateur of the year.
Chun In-Gee
Chun is a 21-year-old golfer from South Korea. Chun won the 2015 U.S Open Golf Championship, this is her most notable win. Chun is not a professional golfer, and she won the U.S Open as a non-member of the U.S Women's Open. Chun In-Gee turned professional in 2012 at the age of 18.
Ha-Na Jung
Ha-Na is a 24-year-old from South Korea. Ha-Na plays n the LPGA Korea Tour where she has 8 wins and has led the money list in 2013. Ha-Na has started to play on the LPGA Tour in 2015 and won her first major title in 2016 at the Coates Golf Championship. One week after Ha-Na's major win she became the first LPGA Tour golfer to hit a Hole-in-one on a par 4. This happened at the 8th hole during the third round of the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic at the Ocean Club.
Ariya Jutanugarn
Ariya is a 20-year-old golfer who is from Thailand. Ariya qualified for the 2007 LPGA Thailand at the age of 11. this made her the youngest player toe ver qualify for an LPGA Tour event. In 2012 Ariya was the American Junior Golf Association player of the year, and this is the same year that she became a professional. In 2013 Ariya won her first professional tour event at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco. In 2016 Ariya won her first LPGA Tour event at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.
Shanshan Feng
Shanshan is a 26-year-old golfer from China. Shanshan is the first Chinese golfer to ever be a member of the LPGA Golf Tour, Shanshan joined the tour in 2008. In 2012 Shanshan won the LPGA Championship, which she shot a bogey-free round of 67 to win by two strokes. Shanshan is the first women from China to ever win a LPGA major championship.
