Jennifer Song

Jennifer Song (born December 20, 1989) is a professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour. In 2009, she won both the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the U.S. Women's Amateur. She was only the fourth player in history to win both championships and the second player to win both in the same year.

Jennifer Song
송민영
Personal information
Full nameJennifer Song
Born (1989-12-20) December 20, 1989 (age 34)
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Sporting nationality United States
 South Korea
ResidenceOrlando, Florida, U.S.
Career
CollegeUniversity of Southern California
(two years)
Turned professional2010
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour (since 2011)
Former tour(s)Futures Tour (joined 2010)
Professional wins2
Number of wins by tour
Epson Tour2
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipT2: 2018
Women's PGA C'shipT17: 2016
U.S. Women's OpenT13: 2009
Women's British OpenT7: 2020
Evian Championship8th: 2017
Achievements and awards
Futures Tour
Rookie of the Year
2010
Korean name
Hangul
송민영
Revised RomanizationSong Minyeong
McCune–ReischauerSong Minyŏng

Childhood and family life

Song was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan while her father was a graduate student at the University of Michigan. She was raised in South Korea and holds dual Korean and United States citizenship. While in Korea, she attended Taejon Christian International School, Daejeon, Korea, where she excelled as a student-athlete and was a striker on the school's girls' soccer team. She was among the top goal scorers in the KAIAC Conference during her sophomore year.[1]

Amateur career

While growing up in South Korea, Song played golf on the Korea National Team. In 2007, she tied for low amateur at the U.S. Women's Open and was the quarterfinalist at the U.S. Women's Amateur. In 2008, she again qualified for the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Women's Amateur.

Beginning in 2008, she was a member of the golf team at the University of Southern California. During her freshman year at USC in 2008-2009, Song had eight top-ten finishes in ten starts and finished the season as the number three ranked player in the country. She was named Freshman of the Year, All-American, All-Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and All-Pac-10. She also set the all-time single-season stroke average record. In the summer of 2009, Song finished low amateur at T13 in the U.S. Women's Open, and won both the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the U.S. Women's Amateur.

In her sophomore year, she was again named All-American after tying for fifth at the NCAA Championships and leading USC to within a stroke of first place. She was voted Pac-10 Golfer of the Year, and was the third-ranked golfer in the country for the second year in a row. She finished her college career with a scoring average of 71.59, as well as her 15 career rounds in the 60s, all of which set USC school records.[2] In October 2009, she accepted a sponsor's exemption to the LPGA Hana Bank Championship where she finished in 65th place out of 71 players.[3] In April 2010, she qualified for the Kraft Nabisco Championship, one of four majors on the LPGA Tour. She finished tied for 21st place and was the low amateur at the tournament.[4]

She finished her amateur career by representing the United States on the winning 2010 Curtis Cup team.

Professional career

Song turned professional immediately following the 2010 Curtis Cup Match, which concluded on June 13, 2010.[5][6] She began playing full-time on the Duramed Futures Tour, of which she had been a member since June 2009, qualifying while still an amateur. She won her first event as a professional, the 2010 Tate & Lyle Players Championship, the sole major tournament on the Futures Tour. She won again in 2010 on the Futures Tour at the Greater Richmond Golf Classic to move into fourth place on the 2010 Futures Tour money list after playing in only eight events.

She finished the 2010 season in second place on the Futures Tour money list which earned her full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2011. She was also named Futures Tour Rookie of the Year.

In April 2018, Song finished as a runner-up at the ANA Inspiration, losing in a sudden-death playoff. In a playoff that included Pernilla Lindberg and Inbee Park, Song was eliminated on the third extra hole, when she could only make a par to the others' birdies. Previously, on the second extra hole, Song had a putt to win the championship, but missed to the right of the hole.

Professional wins (2)

Futures Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Jun 20, 2010Tate & Lyle Players Championship–19 (68-67-65-61=261)6 strokes Esther Choe
2Aug 16, 2010Greater Richmond Golf Classic–12 (68-70-66=204)Playoff Jenny Shin

Futures Tour major championship is shown in bold.

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
12018ANA Inspiration Pernilla Lindberg
Inbee Park
Lindberg won with birdie on eighth extra hole
Song eliminated by birdie on third hole

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order.

Tournament200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Chevron ChampionshipT21LAT56CUTT46T36T35T2T26CUT69CUTCUTCUT
U.S. Women's OpenT39LACUTT13LAT58CUTT46T38CUTT55T48T25CUTT54CUT
Women's PGA ChampionshipT30CUTCUTT30T34T17CUTCUTT60T33CUTT68CUTCUT
The Evian Championship ^CUTT41T16T178T49CUTNTT38CUT
Women's British OpenCUTCUTT47T43T16CUTCUTT7CUT

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.

  Top 10
  Did not play

LA = low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Chevron Championship010112138
U.S. Women's Open000002149
Women's PGA Championship000001147
The Evian Championship00001396
Women's British Open00001294
Totals01013105934
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (2015 British Open – 2017 ANA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2017 Evian – 2018 ANA)

LPGA Tour career summary

YearTournaments
played
Cuts
made
Wins2nd3rdTop 10sBest
finish
Earnings ($)Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2007110000T39n/an/a73.501n/a
2008100000MCn/an/a77.501n/a
2009220000T13n/an/a74.291n/a
2010[7]550000T1545,4061n/a73.251n/a
201115100000T1677,4217972.8960
201222130001T6128,2807173.1981
20131750000T1836,21610873.0397
201419120000T23124,4468372.1663
201527160000T11260,4956772.2269
2016252100113390,5014671.5646
2017292200024423,4864871.4052
201824180113T2626,2633371.4450
2019211600018160,5318571.7889
2020161200143393,8832771.0918
202122160001T8208,4918271.4976
202222130000T12122,13211072.22116
20231870000T2754,24715572.60127

1Not a member of the LPGA in this year. Scoring average and earnings not official.

  • Official as of the 2023 season[8]

Team appearances

Amateur

Curtis Cup record

YearTotal
matches
Total
W–L–H
Singles
W–L–H
Foursomes
W–L–H
Fourballs
W–L–H
Points
won
Points
%
201052–2–10–1–0 lost to D. McVeigh 3&21–0–1 halved w/ J. Johnson, won w/ S. Kono 3&11–1–0 lost w/ K. Kim 4&3, won w/ C. Clanton 2&13.060.0

References