Jennifer Song (born December 20, 1989) is a professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er currently playing 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 weekl ...

. In 2009, she won both the

U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links The U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a women's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the USGA and first played in 1977. The USGA of ...

and the

U.S. Women's Amateur The U.S. Women's Amateur is the leading golf tournament in the United States for female amateur golfers. It is played annually and is one of the 13 United States national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association (USGA). F ...

. She was only the fourth player in history to win both championships and the second player to win both in the same year.

Childhood and family life

Song was born in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

while her father was a graduate student at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. She was raised in

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 holds dual Korean and United States citizenship. While in Korea, she attended

Taejon Christian International School Taejon Christian International School (TCIS) is a Pre-K to Grade 12 international school located in an area known as Techno Valley, a neighborhood in the northern part of Daejeon, South Korea. TCIS is a Three-Programme IB World School and provid ...

, Daejeon, Korea, where she excelled as a student-athlete and was a striker on the school's girls' soccer team. She was among the top goal scorers in the KAIAC Conference during her sophomore year.

Amateur career

While growing up in South Korea, Song played golf on the Korea National Team. In 2007, she tied for low amateur 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 ...

and was the quarterfinalist at the U.S. Women's Amateur. In 2008, she again qualified for the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Women's Amateur. Beginning in 2008, she was a member of the golf team at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. During her freshman year at USC in 2008-2009, Song had eight top-ten finishes in ten starts and finished the season as the number three ranked player in the country. She was named Freshman of the Year, All-American, All-Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and All-Pac-10. She also set the all-time single-season stroke average record. In the summer of 2009, Song finished low amateur at T13 in the U.S. Women's Open, and won both the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the U.S. Women's Amateur. In her sophomore year, she was again named All-American after tying for fifth at the NCAA Championships and leading USC to within a stroke of first place. She was voted Pac-10 Golfer of the Year, and was the third-ranked golfer in the country for the second year in a row. She finished her college career with a scoring average of 71.59, as well as her 15 career rounds in the 60s, all of which set USC school records.USCTrojans.com
Song Named Pac-10 Golfer Of The Year
June 2, 2010, Retrieved June 12, 2010 In October 2009, she accepted a sponsor's exemption to the

LPGA 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 ...

where she finished in 65th place out of 71 players.LPGA.com
Hana Bank KOLON Championship
November 17, 2009, Retrieved June 12, 2010 In April 2010, she qualified for 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 ...

, one of four majors on the LPGA Tour. She finished tied for 21st place and was the low amateur at the tournament.LPGA.com
Kraft Nabisco Championship 2010 Leaderboard
April 4, 2010, Retrieved June 12, 2010 She finished her amateur career by representing the United States on the winning 2010

Curtis Cup The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and " ...

team.

Professional career

Song turned professional immediately following the 2010 Curtis Cup Match, which concluded on June 13, 2010.

Golfweek ''Golfweek'' is a golf magazine and digital media outlet based in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is part of Gannett's USA Today Network. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1975 by Charley Stine and was originally named ''Florida ...

Song's Curtis Cup motto: 'Kick some butts'
June 10, 2010, Retrieved June 12, 2010Daily Trojan
Jennifer Song to turn pro
January 30, 2010, Retrieved June 12, 2010 She began playing full-time on the

Duramed Futures Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

, of which she had been a member since June 2009, qualifying while still an amateur. She won her first event as a professional, the 2010

Tate & Lyle Players Championship The Forsyth Classic was an event on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA's developmental tour. It had been a part of the Symetra Tour's schedule since 1985. It was held at the Hickory Point Golf Course in Decatur, Illinois. Since 2006, the tournament had ...

, the sole major tournament on the Futures Tour. She won again in 2010 on the Futures Tour at the Greater Richmond Golf Classic to move into fourth place on the 2010 Futures Tour money list after playing in only eight events. She finished the 2010 season in second place on the Futures Tour money list which earned her full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2011. She was also named Futures Tour Rookie of the Year. In April 2018, Song finished as a runner-up at the

ANA Inspiration 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 ...

, losing in a sudden-death playoff. In a playoff that included

Pernilla Lindberg Pernilla Lindberg (born 13 July 1986) is a Swedish professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. Her only professional win to date came at the ANA Inspiration, a major championship, Early life Lindberg was born ...

and

Inbee Park Inbee Park (, or ; born 12 July 1988) is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Japan Tour. She has been the number one ranked player in the Women's World Golf Rankings for four separate runs: April 201 ...

, Song was eliminated on the third extra hole, when she could only make a par to the others' birdies. Previously, on the second extra hole, Song had a putt to win the championship, but missed to the right of the hole.

Professional wins (2)

Futures Tour wins (2)

Futures Tour major championship is shown in bold. LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in LPGA majors

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

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (2015 British Open – 2017 ANA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2017 Evian – 2018 ANA)

LPGA Tour career summary

¹Not a member of the LPGA in this year. Scoring average and earnings not official. *Official as of the 2022 season

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing the United States):

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 ...

(winners)

Curtis Cup record

References

External links

* * *
USC official biography
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Jennifer South Korean female golfers American female golfers USC Trojans women's golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships Golfers from Michigan Golfers from Orlando, Florida American sportspeople of Korean descent Sportspeople from Ann Arbor, Michigan 1989 births Living people