Cho Jeong-min (born 26 November 1994) is a South Korean

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 ...

. As an amateur, she represented New Zealand as Cecilia Cho, and in 2011 became women's world number one in the

World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs p ...

. She has won five events on the

LPGA of Korea Tour The LPGA of Korea Tour is a South Korean professional golf tour for women. LPGA stands for Ladies Professional Golf Association. LPGA of Korea runs this tour, not the American LPGA. It is one of the world's five leading women's golf tours. Based o ...

and in 2019 spent 10 weeks in the top 50 of 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 ...

Early life and amateur career

Cho was born in

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and moved to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

with her parents and her older brother Taeyoung Cho when she was 8 years old. Within a few years, she became one of the top junior golfers in New Zealand. She won the 2009 New Zealand Women's Amateur, beating the even younger Korean New Zealander

Lydia Ko Lydia Ko (born 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer and the No. 1-ranked woman professional golfer. She first achieved the top ranking on 2 February 2015 at of age, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked ...

in the final. In 2010, Cho lost in the final of the

Australian Women's Amateur The Australian Women's Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It was first played in 1894 and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, it became a 72-hole stroke play event in 2021, h ...

Stacey Keating Stacey Keating (born 21 June 1986) is an Australian golfer who won the 2012 Open de France Dames and 2012 Open De España Femenino. Originally from Werneth, near Colac, Victoria, she and competed at the 2013 U.S. Women's Open, where she miss ...

, but won the

Australian Women's Amateur Stroke Play Championship The Australian Women's Amateur Stroke Play Championship was a national amateur golf championship played in Australia between 1992 and 2011. From 2008 to 2011, the stroke play championship also acted as the qualification event for the Australian W ...

, becoming the youngest to ever accomplish that feat. On 9 March 2011 Cho briefly ascended to women's world number one in the

. Her rivalry with Lydia Ko intensified, and Ko claimed the 2011 Australian Stroke Play title by beating Cho on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. Ko then also beat Cho into second at the New Zealand Stroke Play Championship. Cho and Ko met in the final of the New Zealand Match Play Championship, where once again, Ko triumphed, beating Cho 4 and 3 in the final despite the fact Cho had won the event the two previous years. This allowed Ko to rise to number one in the amateur rankings, knocking Cho down to number two. Cho also appeared in some professional events. She made the cut at the

New Zealand Women's Open The New Zealand Women's Open was a women's professional golf tournament on the ALPG Tour. It was founded in 2009 and became a co-sanctioned event on the Ladies European Tour the following year. The 2017 edition was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour a ...

in 2010 and 2011, and finished 35th at the

Women's Australian Open The Women's Australian Open is a women's professional golf tournament played in Australia, operated by Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, long co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Beginning with the 2012 event, it is ...

and tied fifth at the ANZ RACV Ladies Masters in 2011. She was the top finisher of Korean heritage in that year's field. She ended 2011 third in the world amateur rankings, missing out on the

Mark H. McCormack Medal The Mark H. McCormack Medal is presented annually by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews to the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after the last 'elite' event of the season. The award is named after World Golf Hall of Famer ...

. Cho played her final event as an amateur in February 2012, finishing tied for 12th at the

Professional career

On turning professional, Cho reverted to using her Korean name and sporting nationality and joined the

. She played mostly on the developmental Dream Tour in 2012, where she recorded one win and finished 6th on the money list. Cho played on the KLPGA in 2013. She finished 66th on the money list and played on the Dream Tour again in 2014, but finished 8th at KLPGA Q-School and returned to the KLPGA full time in 2015. On the 2015 KLPGA, she finished 30th on the money list and had one runner-up finish. In 2016, Cho had a breakthrough year on the KLPGA. She registered a surprise victory at the limited field Dalat Championship in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in March, and followed that up with a full field win at the Caido-MBC Plus Women's Open in July. She also had runner-up finishes at the Nexen-Saintnine Masters and the Hite Jinro Championship, a KLPGA major. She finished 9th on the money list with over 550 million won earned. In 2016, Cho also represented the KLPGA at The Queens team event. She won her singles match against Yukari Nishiyama and a team match against Europe when teamed with

Ko Jin-young Ko Jin-young (;, born 7 July 1995), also known as Jin Young Ko, is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. By age 22 years, she had won 10 times on the LPGA of Korea Tour, was second at the 2015 Ricoh Women’s British O ...

. On the 2018 KLPGA, she had one win and two runner-up finishes and nearly 500 million won in earnings, for a 9th place on the money list. She also played in two

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 ...

events, with her best finish a tie for 21st at the

LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship The LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship was a women's professional golf tournament in Incheon, South Korea, co-sanctioned by the LPGA of Korea Tour and the LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for ...

. 2019 was an even stronger season, with two wins and three runner-ups. She earned almost 700 million won for a 7th place on the money list. In 2020, she started to struggle, with a best finish all year of 19th place. She was able to hold on to her KLPGA tour card, but in 2021 she only made 38 million won for a 96th on the money list, and was left without a card for 2022.

Amateur wins

*2009 New Zealand Women's Amateur *2010 New Zealand Women's Amateur,

*2011

Riversdale Cup The Riversdale Cup is the second oldest amateur golf tournament in Australia. It is a Golf Australia national ranking event. The event has been played since 1896 and is organised by and played at the Riversdale Golf Club in Mount Waverley, Victoria ...

, New Zealand Under 19, Grange Classic Source:

Professional wins (6)

LPGA of Korea Tour wins (5)

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

The Dalat at 1200 Ladies Championship, Caido-MBC Plus Women's Open *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

The 8th Lotte Cantata Ladies Open *

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 ...

Celltrion Queens Masters, BC Card Hankyung Ladies Cup

WPGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

Navigate Advisors Wagga Wagga Women's Pro-Am

Team appearances

Amateur *

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 New Zealand):

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 ...

Astor Trophy The Astor Trophy is a women's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain and Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It has been played every four years since 1959. From its foundation until 2007 it ...

(representing New Zealand): 2011 *

Queen Sirikit Cup The Queen Sirikit Cup, officially the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship, is an annual amateur team golf championship for women organised by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation. The inaugural event was held in 1979. The event is nam ...

(representing New Zealand): 2011 Professional * The Queens (representing Korea): 2016 (winners)

References

External links

Cho Jeong-min
at the

KLPGA Tour The LPGA of Korea Tour is a South Korean professional golf tour for women. LPGA stands for Ladies Professional Golf Association. LPGA of Korea runs this tour, not the American LPGA. It is one of the world's five leading women's golf tours. Based o ...

official site *
Profile on Seoul Sisters site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, Jeong-min South Korean female golfers New Zealand female golfers LPGA of Korea Tour golfers Sportspeople from Daegu Golfers from Auckland 1994 births Living people