is a Japanese female

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 ...

who in 2007 at the age of 21 became the youngest player 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 ...

(JLPGA) to finish first on the money list. She also played on the United States-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 ...

for six years.

Amateur career

Ueda was born in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She started playing golf at the age of nine, and entered the prestigious Sakata School at ten. In twenty three amateur events, she placed in the top 10 fifteen times, including three wins, and five second-place finishes.

Professional career

Ueda turned pro in August 2005 and won the JLPGA rookies cup that year. In 2006, she placed 4th in two JLPGA events, and tied for 9th in the

Mizuno Classic The Toto Japan Classic is an annual women's professional golf tournament in Japan, jointly sanctioned by the two richest women's professional tours: the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Japan Tour. It was an unofficial money event on the LPGA ...

, a joint JLPGA and

LPGA 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 ...

event. 2007 was her breakout year on the JLPGA, with five wins, six runners-up, a 3rd and a 5th. Internationally, she represented Japan in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, and played in the

Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a women's major golf championships, major championship in Professional golf tours#Women's tours, women's professional go ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

. In April she won the Life Card Ladies at her home town of Kumamoto. She went on to win the Resort Trust Ladies and the Stanley Ladies, and placed 2nd in the

Fujitsu Ladies The Fujitsu Ladies is an annual golf tournament for professional female golfers on LPGA of Japan Tour. It is generally played in October and in recent years at the Tokyu Seven Hundred Club, Chiba, Chiba. It was founded in 1983. Winners *2022 ...

, before winning the

in November. A highlight of her tournament was a double-eagle during the tournament's final round. She became the tournament's first Japanese winner in nine years and only the 16th non-LPGA member in history to win an LPGA event. Two weeks later at the Elleair Ladies she won her fifth tournament and became the youngest money title winner in the history of the JLPGA tour. Her win at Mizuno qualified her to play on the LPGA tour in 2008. In her first tournament of the year, the

SBS Open at Turtle Bay The SBS Open at Turtle Bay was a golf tournament for professional female golfers, played on the LPGA Tour that took place between 2005 and 2009 on the Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, Hawaii Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), als ...

, she finished fifth. Ueda again won the Mizuno Classic in 2011. She birdied the 3rd hole of a sudden death playoff to defeat

Shanshan Feng Shanshan Feng (, ; born 5 August 1989) is a Chinese former professional golfer who previously played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was the first player from China to become a member of the LPGA Tour, which she joined in 2008. Feng had 10 vic ...

.Momoko Ueda wins Mizuno in playoff
/ref>

Professional wins (17)

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (17)

Co-sanctioned by the

LPGA Tour wins (2)

Co-sanctioned by the

.
LPGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

Results in LPGA majors

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013. CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied

LPGA Tour career summary

*Official as of the 2013 season

JLPGA prize money

* As of 13 June 2021

Team appearances

Professional *

(representing Japan): 2007 * The Queens (representing Japan): 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ueda, Momoko Japanese female golfers LPGA of Japan Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers People from Kumamoto 1986 births Living people 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women