Grace Kim (golfer) explained

Grace Kim
Birth Date:13 December 2000
Birth Place:Sydney, NSW, Australia
Height:5 ft 6 in
Residence:Sydney, NSW, Australia
Yearpro:2021
Tour:LPGA Tour (joined 2023)
WPGA Tour of Australasia
Extour:Epson Tour
Prowins:6
Lpgawins:1
Alpgwins:2
Futwins:1
Otherwins:2
Anainspiration:CUT: 2023, 2024
Lpga:14th: 2023
Wusopen:T13: 2023
Wbritopen:T36: 2023
Evian:T51: 2024
Award1:Golf NSW Female Player of the Year
Year1:2019
Show-Medals:yes

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.

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.

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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4]

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. 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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

Amateur wins

Source:[8]

Professional wins (6)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12023Lotte Championship Yu Liu
Sung Yu-jin
Won with birdie on first extra hole
22024Meijer LPGA Classic Lilia Vu
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 2021TPS Sydney (as an amateur)67-70=137−52 strokes Breanna Gill
Su-Hyun Oh
26 Mar 2022TPS Sydney70-67-65=202 −111 stroke Cassie Porter

Epson Tour wins (1)

Women's All-Pro Tour wins (2)

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order.

Tournament2022 2023 2024
Chevron ChampionshipCUTCUT
U.S. Women's OpenT63T13
Women's PGA Championship14T60
The Evian ChampionshipCUTT51
T36
CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Totals 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 6

Team appearances

Amateur

Source:[8]

LPGA Tour career summary

Year Tournaments
played
Cuts
made*
Wins 2nd 3rd Top
10s
Best
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
20181 0 0 0 0 0 CUT n/a <-- $ Earnings -->n/a 77.00 n/a
20191 0 0 0 0 0 CUT n/a <-- $ Earnings -->n/a 75.50 n/a
20201 0 0 0 0 0 CUT n/a <-- $ Earnings -->n/a 74.00 n/a
2021Did not play
20221 1 0 0 0 0 T63 n/a <-- not official $20,498 --> n/a 74.25 n/a
202322 16 1 0 0 2 1 959,443 <-- $ Earnings -->29 70.81 37
202412 7 0 1 0 1 2 335,863 <-- $ Earnings -->44 71.32 42
Totals^34 (2023) 23 (2023) 1 1 0 3 1 1,295,306268
^ 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.

Year Ranking Source
2019 1,228 [13]
2020 961 [14]
2021 646 [15]
2022 181 [16]
2023 76 [17]
2024 69^ [18]

^ As of 17 June 2024

Notes and References

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