Azahara Muñoz Guijarro (born 19 November 1987) is a Spanish

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

on the U.S.-based

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 weekl ...

and

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal stru ...

Amateur career

Muñoz was born in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

in southern Spain and had a successful amateur career in both Europe and the United States. She won the 2002 Spanish Amateur title at age 14, the 2004

Girls Amateur Championship The Girls Amateur Championship is a golf tournament held annually in the United Kingdom. Girls need to be under 18 on 1 January in the year of the championship. Until World War II the championship was organised by a series of magazines and always ...

, and was the 2009

British Ladies Amateur The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of th ...

champion. Additionally, she was runner-up to

Amanda Blumenherst Amanda Blumenherst (born November 4, 1986) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was a three-time National Player of the Year at Duke University and won the U.S. Women's Amateur title in 2008. In 2013, ...

at the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, and was a member of Europe's

Junior Solheim Cup The Junior Solheim Cup is a version of the Solheim Cup for girls aged 12 to 18. It was inaugurated in 2002. It is currently officially called the PING Junior Solheim Cup. The Junior Solheim Cup follows a similar format to The Solheim Cup and featu ...

Team in 2002, 2003, and 2005. At

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, she was the 2008 NCAA Individual Champion in her junior year, winning by making a putt at the first hole of a playoff against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Tiffany Joh Tiffany Joh (born December 8, 1986) is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour and on the Symetra Tour. Childhood Joh was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and moved to San Diego, California as a young child. Both ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. Surgery on her right wrist in January 2009 sidelined her for over a month during her senior year. In May, Muñoz finished fourth at the NCAA Championships in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

to lead the Sun Devils to the 2009 NCAA team title. She was the

Edith Cummings Munson Award The Edith Cummings Munson Golf Award is an annual award inspired by Edith Cummings Munson that is given to one of the top collegiate female golfers who excels in academics. The award is presented by the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA). ...

recipient in 2008 & 2009, the only double winner of the award. Muñoz was also 2006–08 NGCA Academic All-American, 2006–09 First-Team All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

, 2006–07 NGCA Second-Team All-American, 2009 NGCA All-American and 2009 Pac-10 Scholar of the Year. She graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from ASU in May 2009 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and a minor in business. In a final summer of amateur play, Muñoz won the match-play

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

over ASU teammate and compatriot Carlota Ciganda, then won gold medals (individual & team) for Spain at the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games ( it, XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the Inte ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Although the runner-up in 2008, she opted not to participate in the 2009 U.S. Women's Amateur. She played in three professional

majors Jonathan Michael Majors (born September 7, 1989)Majors in is an American actor. He rose to prominence after starring in the independent feature film ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' (2019). In 2020, he garnered wider notice for portraying ...

as an amateur in 2009 and placed T-40 twice.

Professional career

2009

Muñoz turned professional in September 2009, two weeks prior to the first stage of the

Qualifying Tournament Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

in California, in which she finished second and advanced to the final stage in December. Back in Spain, she received a sponsor's exemption into the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Madrid Ladies Masters, and made her professional debut on 1 October on the

(LET). After shooting a 64 (−9) in the final round, she won the three-round event on the first playoff hole, defeating former ASU teammate

Anna Nordqvist --> , death_place = , height = , weight = , nationality = , residence = Orlando, Florida, U.S. , spouse = , partner = , children = , college = Arizona State University (2.5 years) , yearpro = ...

with an eagle putt; Muñoz earned

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

50,000 and a three-year LET exemption. Following a rain-shortened one-round victory in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

for

5,000 on the Banesto mini-tour in late October, Muñoz finished fifth at the

LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

in December in Florida to earn full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2010. She ended the year ranked 179th in the

Women's World Golf Rankings The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by eight women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (L ...

2010

In her rookie season of

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Muñoz made the cut in her first eleven events, and won over $402,000 in LPGA competition with two top ten finishes. She made the top twenty in the three

she played, was 30th on the money list, and 17th in scoring. Muñoz handily won the competition for LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year with 704 points; the runner-up was compatriot

Beatriz Recari Beatriz Recari Eransus (born 21 April 1987) is a Spanish professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. Amateur career Born and raised in Pamplona in northern Spain, Recari began playing golf at age 11 and enjoyed ...

with 419. She won an additional €26,380 in five events on the Ladies European Tour (total

LET earnings were €96,633 in seven events, with €70,253 from the two events co-sanctioned by the LPGA). Muñoz ended the year at 41st in the world rankings.

2012

Muñoz notched her first LPGA Tour victory at the

Sybase Match Play Championship The Sybase Match Play Championship was a women's professional golf tournament for three seasons on the LPGA Tour, held at Hamilton Farm Golf Club in Gladstone, New Jersey. First played in 2010, it was the only match play format event on the LPGA To ...

Gladstone, New Jersey Gladstone is an unincorporated community located within Peapack-Gladstone in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 07934.Candie Kung Candie Kung (; born 8 August 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. Amateur career Kung was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She was a three-time American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) All-American and was nam ...

. In the

semifinal A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

round of

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

against

Morgan Pressel Morgan Pressel (born May 23, 1988) is an American professional golfer and golf commentator who played on the LPGA Tour. In 2001, as a 12-year-old, she became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. She was the 2005 American Juni ...

, Muñoz trailed by two through 11 holes. Pressel appeared to have won the 12th hole, which would have given her a three-hole lead over Muñoz, but a slow-play penalty was ruled against Pressel. Muñoz ended up winning the semifinal match against Pressel, 2 and 1. The victory in May vaulted Muñoz from 27th to 19th in the world rankings and from tenth to second on the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

money list.

Professional wins (6)

LPGA Tour (1)

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

Ladies European Tour (5)

¹ Muñoz sank an eagle putt on the first playoff hole to win.

Results in LPGA majors

''Results not in chronological order before 2021.'' ^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013 CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (2013 Evian – 2015 British Open) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

LPGA Tour career summary

* official through 2022 season * Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

World ranking

Position in

at the end of each calendar year.

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing Europe): 2002, 2003 (winners), 2005 *

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 Fren ...

(representing Spain):

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pla ...

(representing Spain):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

(winners),

Professional *

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force beh ...

(representing Europe):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

(winners),

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

(winners),

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

(winners) *

International Crown The Hanwha LifePlus International Crown is a :wikt:biennial, biennial women's professional team golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. Eight national teams of four players each (32 players in total) participate in the match play event. History It deb ...

(representing Spain):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

(winners)

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Azahara Spanish female golfers Arizona State Sun Devils women's golfers Ladies European Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships Solheim Cup competitors for Europe Olympic golfers of Spain Golfers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Golfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games medalists in golf Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Sportspeople from Málaga 1987 births Living people 20th-century Spanish women 21st-century Spanish women