Sofia Linette García Peralta (born 22 June 1998) is a Paraguayan

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 ...

on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

Early life and amateur career

García was born in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

and enjoyed a successful amateur career. In 2013, she won the South American Junior Championship by ten strokes. She won the South American Amateur Golf Championship two years in a row, in 2015 and 2016, becoming the first winner from her country in this championship. In 2019, she won the Dutch International Junior Open. She represented Paraguay at the Campeonato Sudamericano Copa Los Andes seven times between 2012 and 2019, and at the

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 ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. García attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

between 2016 and 2021, playing with the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

women's golf team. She posted a career stroke average of 72.2, a school record, and won four tournaments. She played on the winning

Arnold Palmer Cup The Arnold Palmer Cup is an annual team golf competition for college/university golfers. It is named for Arnold Palmer. From 2018 it has been contested between a United States team and an International team representing the rest of the world. The ...

teams in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and was invited to play in the Augusta National Women's Amateur in 2020 and 2021. At the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

, García teamed with

Fabrizio Zanotti Arnaldo Fabrizio Zanotti (born 21 May 1983) is a Paraguayan professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. Early life Zanotti was born in Asunción, the national capital. He was Paraguay's top ranked amateur golfer for six straight years. ...

Julieta Granada Julieta Granada (born 17 November 1986) is a Paraguayan professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. Amateur career Born in Asunción, Paraguay, Granada moved to the United States with her mother at the age of 1 ...

, and

Carlos Franco Carlos Daniel Franco (born 24 May 1965) is a Paraguayan professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He is the brother of golfer Ángel Franco. Franco was born in Asunción, the Paraguayan capital. He comes from a poor bac ...

, to win the silver medal in the mixed team event.

Professional career

García turned professional after graduating in 2021. Getting ready for Q-School, she played on the Women's All-Pro Tour (WAPT) where she was runner-up twice and finished fifth on the Order of Merit. In 2022, she joined the

Epson 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 ...

, where she recorded five top-10 finishes including a season-best runner-up at the Carlisle Arizona Women's Golf Classic, three strokes behind Fátima Fernández Cano. She qualified for the 2022 U.S. Women's Open after shooting 2-under-par 142 (70-72) in qualifying at Fox Run Golf Club. At Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, she shot 72-73-77-74 to finish T-60. García earned her

card for 2023 via Q-School

Amateur wins

*2013 South American Junior Championship *2014 Abierto Club de Golf del Uruguay, Abierto Sport Frances *2015 South American Amateur Golf Championship, Campeonato Sudamericano Juvenil, Abierto Sport Francés *2016 South American Amateur Golf Championship *2018 Illini Invitational at Medinah *2019 Reynolds Lake Oconee Invite, Valspar Augusta Invitational, Dutch International Junior Open, SMU Trinity Forest Invitation *2021 Maryb S Kauth Invitational Source:

Results in LPGA majors

"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur *Campeonato Sudamericano Copa Los Andes (representing Paraguay): 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 *

(representing Paraguay):

(representing the International team):

(winners),

(winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Sofia Paraguayan female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Texas Tech Red Raiders women's golfers Pan American Games gold medalists for Paraguay Pan American Games silver medalists for Paraguay Pan American Games medalists in golf Golfers at the 2019 Pan American Games Golfers at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Sportspeople from Asunción 1998 births Living people