Aree Song ( ko, 송아리), (born Aree Wongluekiet 1 May 1986) is a Korean professional golfer who plays on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

. Her father is

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n and her mother is

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

. She was born in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

, Thailand. She is a South Korean citizen, and has represented Thailand in junior team competition, but she has spent much of her life in the United States.

Early life and amateur career

Song was a child prodigy, setting a number of "youngest" age records. She won the 1999 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship (held at Green Spring Valley Hunt Club in Owings Mills, Maryland) at thirteen years old, becoming the youngest player to win any

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

championship. In 2000, she tied for 10th place in the

Kraft Nabisco Championship The Chevron Championship is a professional women's golf tournament. An event on the LPGA Tour, it is one of the tour's five major championships, and has traditionally been the first of the season since its elevation to major status in 1983. Fou ...

, at the age of thirteen. The same year, a few months after her fourteenth birthday, she became the youngest ever semi-finalist at the U.S. Women's Amateur. In 2001, she was the recipient of the Nancy Lopez Award, which is presented to the best female amateur golfer of the year. The next year she placed first individually at the World Amateur Team Championships (

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fre ...

) and helped Thailand to a second-place finish. She won a number of adult amateur events in 2002 and 2003 and in the latter year she placed fifth at the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

Professional career

Song turned professional in August 2003 at the age of 17 and 3 months. She was granted an exemption from the LPGA's minimum age rule to allow her to enter the 2003 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament where she finished fifth to earn membership on the LPGA Tour for 2004. In her rookie season, she finished second at the

and ended the year 28th on the money list. Song eagled the 72nd hole at the Kraft Nabisco to tie for the lead but lost by one shot when Grace Park birdied the final hole. In 2007, Song suffered a lack of energy and continued to struggle, dropping to 88th place on the official LPGA money list. She sat out all of 2008 due to health problems including severe irritable bowel syndrome and adrenal insufficiency. Song returned to the LPGA Tour in 2009 and was on the leaderboard at the LPGA Championship in June before a final-round 78 pushed her back in the pack. In 2010, she again competed in the LPGA Qualifying Tournament ("Q-School") to attempt to regain her playing privileges on the LPGA Tour. She won the Tournament and gained full membership on the LPGA Tour for 2011.

Personal life

Song's twin sister

Naree Song Naree Song ( ko, 송나리, (born Naree Wongluekiet 1 May 1986) is a Korean professional golfer of Thai descent. Song's birth name was Naree Wongluekiet, and she and her identical twin sister were born in Bangkok, Thailand. Her father is Sout ...

(Korean: 송나리) has also been a member of the LPGA Tour.

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing Thailand): 2002 Professional *

Lexus Cup The Lexus Cup was an annual golf tournament played between 2005 and 2008 for professional women golfers contested by a team representing Asia and an international team representing the rest of the world. It was sanctioned by the LPGA Tour,

(representing Asia team): 2005

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Aree Aree Song South Korean female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Twin sportspeople South Korean twins Aree Song Aree Song South Korean people of Thai descent Aree Song 1986 births Living people