In-Kyung Kim spent almost her entire amateur golf
career to date playing in South Korea. Thus, she was
virtually unknown when she came over to America in
the Spring of 2005 to play a few months worth of
tournaments. But by the end of the summer, she was
anything but unknown. In her first three Junior
events played in the States, she had three wins.
Still, no one expected much when she went to compete
in the US Girl's Junior, the most prestigious junior
golf event for girls in the world.
But she stunned the world by making her way through
the ranks until she wound up in the finals against
In-Bee Park. Park had already finished first and
second in this event in the past, and since this was
the final year she would be eligible to play, she
was intent on taking the title one more time. But
Kim proved too much for Park right from the
beginning, and the match turned into a rout, with
Kim winning 5 and 4.
Kim also played the US Women's Amateur later in the
summer, where she earned the medalist honors for low
score in the preliminary portion. Unfortunately, she
ran into a Korean American player named Angela Park
playing the best golf of her life, and In-Kyung lost
to her in the quarterfinals.
In-Kyung was more low key in 2006, although she did
play a few of the big amateur events. Her main focus
was on preparing for Q-School. She remained amateur
just in case things didn't go well, but that turned
out to be an unnecessary concern. She won the 2006
Futures Tour Q-School, then, a few weeks later,
finished co-medalist at LPGA Q-School as well. She
turned pro right after LPGA Q-School, and had full
exempt status on tour in 2007.
In-Kyung's rookie year was a very good one. Although
she never seriously challenged Angela Park for top
rookie honors, she had four top tens, finished in
the top forty on the money list to earn a two year
exemption, and finished second in the rookie of the
year standings. The highlight of her year came at
the Rochester tournament midyear. She had a three
shot lead over Lorena Ochoa with two holes to go,
but Ochoa made eagle on the 17th hole, Kim made par,
then Kim just missed a short par save on 18 for the
win. She lost the playoff to Ochoa. Kim was so close
to winning, but would have to wait until 2008 to try
to collect her first trophy.
At the end of 2007, In-Kyung was one of the members
of Team Asia at the Lexus Cup. She was, in fact,
more than just a member: she teamed with Se Ri Pak
to win both team matches, than won her singles match
as well to go undefeated for the week. She also came
up with the idea for everyone to paint slogans on
their faces and arms, a bonding exercise that helped
rally Asia to the victory.
