Inbee Park (born July 12, 1988, in Seoul, South
Korea) is a South Korean professional golfer.
Park began playing golf at the age of 10. After
moving to the United States, she won nine events on
the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit
and was a five-time Rolex Junior All-American. She
was a semifinalist at the 2003 U.S. Women’s Amateur
Championship. She won the 2002 U.S. Girls’ Junior
Championship and finished as runner-up in both 2003
and 2005.
Park turned professional in 2006 and competed on the
Duramed FUTURES Tour, where she recorded 11 top-10
finishes. She finished third on the Duramed FUTURES
Tour season-ending money list to earn exempt status
for the LPGA Tour.
During the 2007 season, she tied for fourth at the
U.S. Women's Open and tied for second at the Safeway
Classic.
On 29 June 2008, Park won the U.S. Women's Open at
Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota for her
first LPGA win. At 19, she was the youngest player
to win the title. In four rounds, she shot
72-69-71-71 to score 9-under-par, beating Helen
Alfredsson of Sweden by 4 strokes.
