Sophia Popov (born 2 October 1992) is a German professional golfer.

Personal life

Popov holds dual United States-

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

citizenship having been born in the United States, and moved to Germany with her family when she was four years old. Her paternal grandparents are Bulgarian.

Amateur career

As an amateur, she played college golf at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. She won the 2010

International European Ladies Amateur Championship The European Ladies Amateur Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is organized by the European Golf Association and is one of the "elite" tournaments recognized by the World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men ...

and played on the

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 ...

and

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 Fre ...

teams.

Professional career

In 2015, Popov was part of the German broadcast team for German television during the

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 b ...

. Popov played on the Symetra Tour between 2016 and 2020, where she had a best of four runner-up finishes: 2016 Chico's Patty Berg Memorial, 2016

Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic The Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic was an event on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA's developmental tour. It a part of the Symetra Tour's schedule from 2015 to 2021. It aws held at Brook-Lea Country Club, designed by Donald Ross, outside Rochest ...

, 2017 Tullymore Classic and 2020 Founders Tribute at Longbow. In 2016, she qualified for 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 ...

at CordeValle, where she finished last of those making the cut, and in 2018 she played in the

Women's PGA Championship The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by th ...

at Kemper Lakes, finishing tied for 57th place. In February 2019, Popov came within a stroke of gaining a place 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 week ...

for the 2019 season via the

qualifying 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 ...

. In 2020, with the LPGA and Symetra tours being impacted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, she won three tournaments on the

Cactus Tour The Cactus Tour is an unofficial developmental golf tour, or mini-tour, for women golfers which operates in the American Southwest. It bills itself as "The Tour for Women Golf Professionals in the Western United States!". ''Golfweek'' termed i ...

, a mini-tour based in Arizona. She followed that up with victory in the

AIG Women's 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 major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tou ...

Royal Troon Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire, southwest of Glasgow. Founding and early years The club, which now has a total of 45 holes, was founded in 1878, initially with five holes. It lies adj ...

, having qualified by means of a high finish at the

Marathon Classic The Dana Open Presented By Marathon, is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. It was founded in 1984 and has been played yearly, except in 1986 and 2011, in Sylvania, Ohio, a suburb northwest of Toledo. The tournament is te ...

. Prior to the Women's Open, Popov was ranked 304th in the world.

Amateur wins

*2008 European Ladies' Club Trophy (individual), German Girls Championship (Under-16) *2009 European Ladies' Club Trophy (individual) *2010

, PAC 10-SEC Challenge *2011 PING/ASU Invitational, PAC-10 Championship *2012 Battle at Rancho Bernardo *2013 SDSU Farms Invitational Source:

Professional wins (4)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

Cactus Tour The Cactus Tour is an unofficial developmental golf tour, or mini-tour, for women golfers which operates in the American Southwest. It bills itself as "The Tour for Women Golf Professionals in the Western United States!". ''Golfweek'' termed i ...
wins (3)

*2020 Event 14, Event 16, Event 20

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Results generally not in chronological order.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Girls' Team Championship The European Girls' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women up to 18 organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1991. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1991 to 1999 and has be ...

(representing Germany): 2008. 2009 *

(representing Europe): 2009 *

(representing Germany): 2010,

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 gat ...

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 Germany): 2011,

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 fa ...

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 ...

Vagliano Trophy The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in ...

(representing Continent of Europe): 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners) Professional *

(representing Europe):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

(winners)

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* *
USC Trojans
– Sophia Popov {{DEFAULTSORT:Popov, Sophia German female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Olympic golfers for Germany Golfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics USC Trojans women's golfers American people of German descent American people of Bulgarian descent German people of Bulgarian descent Sportspeople from Karlsruhe (region) 1992 births Living people