Jiyai Shin (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 신지애 ''Shin Ji-ae'', ; born 28 April 1988) is a former world No. 1 ranked 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 p ...

who primarily plays on 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 ...

as of the 2020 golf season. She previously played primarily 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 ...

and 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 ...

(KLPGA). She has broken existing KLPGA records, winning 10 events in 19 starts on the KLPGA Tour in 2007. In 2008, playing only 10 tournaments on the LPGA Tour as a non-member, she won three events, including 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 major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour ...

and the

ADT Championship The ADT Championship was a women's professional golf tournament on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. The season-ending event on the tour, it became the LPGA Playoffs at The ADT from 2006 through 2008. History The tournament was played in its final playoff ...

. She has been ranked No. 1 in 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 ( ...

for 25 weeks and was the first Asian to be ranked No. 1.

Amateur career

In 2005, while she was still in high school, Shin was the only amateur to win a KLPGA event that season when she won the SK Enclean Invitational. She turned professional at the end of the 2005 season.

Professional career

2006

Returning to the KLPGA as a rookie in 2006, she started her year with a pair of third-place finishes in her first two events and went on to claim three wins on the season.

2007

2007 marked Shin's breakout year. She played 19 events on the KLPGA and won 10 of them, shattering all existing Tour records. She also ventured onto the LPGA Tour for the first time and played three of the four women's major championships. At the U.S. Women's Open she finished sixth. The next month at the

Evian Masters The Evian Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as The Amundi Evian Championship, is a women's professional golf tournament in France, played at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains. It was originally held in June, mov ...

, an event on the LPGA Tour and a major on the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal str ...

, she finished tied for third. Shin finished 2007 ranked 8th in the world, the highest ranked Korean of all, and the only non-LPGA member who ranked in the top ten.

2008

Opening 2008 at the

Women's World Cup of Golf The Women's World Cup of Golf was a professional golf tournament contested by teams of two female golfers representing their respective countries. The tournament was played in two incarnations, first in 2000 at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co ...

, Shin and number two KLPGA player

Eun-Hee Ji Ji Eun-hee (; ; born 13 May 1986 in Gapyeong, South Korea), also known as Eun-Hee Ji, is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is also a member of the South Korean KLPGA. LPGA career Ji joined the LPGA ...

succumbed to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

pair of Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin with a score of −16 after 3rd and final day of competition. Philippines scored −18 and received the $240,000 cheque. Shin then played 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 i ...

where she finished 2nd, losing to Karrie Webb in a playoff. Shin won the

in Berkshire, England for her first LPGA Tour and major win. This made her the first non-member of the LPGA to win a major since

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...

won the U.S. Women's Open in 1987. She won the 2008 Mizuno Classic in November, shooting scores of 68, 66 and 67. She was six shots ahead of the next competitor to win at −15 (201), to notch her second LPGA career win. Two weeks later she won the

, the culminating event in the season-long LPGA playoff series, and claimed the $1 million prize. She became the first-ever non-LPGA member to win three LPGA tournaments.

2009

Shin's wins in LPGA Tour events in 2008 qualified her for LPGA membership in 2009. She got off to a slow start as an LPGA member, missing her first cut ever in an LPGA tournament at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay. She rebounded and won the third event of the season, the limited field

HSBC Women's Champions The HSBC Women's World Championship is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour first held in 2008. It was played on the Garden Course of the Tanah Merah Country Club in eastern Singapore, adjacent to Singapore Changi Airport f ...

, scoring 66 in both the third and fourth rounds. She won again in June at the full-field Wegmans LPGA tournament and in September at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. By the first week of November she officially clinched the LPGA Rookie of the Year award. She had been awarded a Talent Medal of Korea by the President of Korea in 2009.

2010

On 2 May, Shin won the Cyber Agent Ladies on the

. On 3 May, she became the World Number 1 ranked women's golfer, replacing Lorena Ochoa who finished in sixth place in an LPGA tournament the previous day. She held the position until it was taken over by

Ai Miyazato is a former Japanese professional golfer who competed on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA). She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women's World Golf Rankings on three occasions in 2010. Early life, family and amateur ca ...

on 21 June 2010 and regained it on 26 July after winning the

. On 19 September, Shin won the MetLife-Korea Economics KLPGA Championship, one of the major championships on the

. With this victory, Shin qualified for the

KLPGA 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 ...

Hall of Fame, although she has to fulfill her career as professional golfer for 10 years before membership can be official. If she continues her professional career, she will be the third Hall of Famer in 2015, after

Ok-Hee Ku Ku Ok-hee ( ko, 구옥희; 1 August 195610 July 2013) was a South Korean professional golfer who played on the LPGA of Japan Tour and the LPGA Tour. Ku won 23 times on the LPGA of Japan Tour between 1985 and 2005 and won once on the LPGA Tour in ...

and

Se Ri Pak Pak Se-ri or Se-ri Pak ( ko, 박세리, ; born 28 September 1977) is a South Korean former professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour from 1998 to 2016. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007. Career overview Born in D ...

2014

Shin gave up her LPGA membership before the start of the season to be nearer to her family in Korea and played on the

, winning four times during the 2014 season.

2015

Shin won the Cyber Agent Ladies in early May for the second time in her career. She birdied three of the final five holes on the back nine to win by one stroke over Erika Kikuchi of Japan. This victory is her 10th win on the JLPGA Tour.

Honors and awards

2005 *

Rookie of the Year *

Best Amateur 2006 *

Money list leader 2007 *

Player of the Year *

Money list leader 2008 *

Player of the Year *

Money list leader 2009 * LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year * LPGA Tour Money list leader *Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year 2015 *

Hall of Fame 2018 *

Player of the Year

Personal life

In 2004 at age 16, Shin's mother was killed in a car accident. Her younger brother and sister were seriously injured and spent nearly a year in a hospital. Her mother's life insurance money funded the beginning of her golf career. Shin currently owns a home in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, where she lives with her brother, stepmother, and father.

Endorsements

Shin has endorsement deals with Three Bond Holdings, Jatco, M.U Sports & Ecco.

Professional wins (61)

LPGA Tour wins (11)

LPGA Tour playoff record (2–0) Co-sanctioned by the

.
Co-sanctioned by the

.
Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour and the

Ladies European Tour wins (6)

Co-sanctioned by the

.
Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour and the

.
Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour.
Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in LET.

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (28)

Co-sanctioned by the

.
Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in JLPGA.

LPGA of Korea Tour wins (21)

Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in KLPGA

Ladies Asian Golf Tour wins (1)

ALPG Tour wins (3)

Co-sanctioned by the

and the

.
Co-sanctioned by the

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order before 2019.'' ^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013. CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 22 (2007 Kraft Nabisco – 2013 LPGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (2009 British Open – 2010 U.S. Open)

LPGA Tour career summary

¹ Shin's $24,349 earnings at the 2009 Honda LPGA Thailand were considered unofficial under LPGA rules and are not included in this total.
* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut. *official through 23 November 2014

World ranking

Position in

at the end of each calendar year.

Team appearances

Professional *

Lexus Cup The Lexus Cup was an annual golf tournament played between 2005 and 2008 for professional women golfers contested by a team representing Asia and an international team representing the rest of the world. It was sanctioned by the LPGA Tour,

(representing Asia team): 2007 (winners) *

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 ...

(representing South Korea): 2007, 2008 * The Queens (representing Korea): 2016 (captain, winners)

References

External links

* * * *
Biography on seoulsisters.comJi-Yai Shin pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Jiyai South Korean female golfers LPGA of Japan Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers LPGA of Korea Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Yonsei University alumni Sportspeople from South Jeolla Province 1988 births Living people

Amateur career

Professional career

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2014

2015

Honors and awards

Personal life

Endorsements

Professional wins (61)

LPGA Tour wins (11)

Ladies European Tour wins (6)

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (28)

LPGA of Korea Tour wins (21)

Ladies Asian Golf Tour wins (1)

ALPG Tour wins (3)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

Summary

LPGA Tour career summary

World ranking

Team appearances

See also

References

External links