Minami Katsu ( ja, 勝みなみ, born 1 July 1998) is a Japanese

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 ...

. She is the youngest winner in the history of the

LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the most important women's tour, but ...

when she won the KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open as an amateur on 20 April 2014 at age 15.

Early life

Katsu was born in

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

City in 1998. She began to play golf at the age of six under her grandfather's influence. She graduated from Kagoshima Municipal Nagata Junior High School in 2014 and from in 2017.

Amateur wins

*2014 New Zealand Women's Stroke Play Championship, Japan Junior Golf Championship (girl's aged 15–17 division) *2015 Japan Women's Amateur

Professional career

Katsu has eight wins on the

, including one as an amateur. Katsu earned her

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 ...

card for the 2023 season via

Q-School 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 ...

Professional wins (8)

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (8)

Katsu won the 2014 KKT Cup Vantelin Ladies Open as an amateur.
Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in LPGA of Japan Tour.

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 Japan):

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 ...

References

External links

* * Japanese female golfers LPGA of Japan Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Golfers at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Japan People from Kagoshima 1998 births Living people 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women {{Japan-golf-bio-stub