Quick Facts
Biography
Christina Kim (born March 15, 1984) is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour and on the Ladies European Tour (LET). She is known for her animated style of play, flamboyant dress, and outgoing personality.
Kim competed in eight events in 2001 on the Futures Tour and made three cuts and a tied for second once. Shortly after her 18th birthday, Kim turned professional and competed on the 2002 Futures Tour for prize money. Kim missed just one cut in 18 starts with 12 top-ten finishes. She won her first event as a professional in August 2002 - the Hewlett-Packard Garden State FUTURES Summer Classic in a six-hole playoff over future LPGA Tour star Lorena Ochoa. Kim was second to Ochoa on the money list and both earned LPGA Tour cards for 2003.
Kim won the 2004 Longs Drugs Challenge and the 2005 Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions and was a member of three U.S. Solheim Cup teams in 2005, 2009, and 2011. She was the youngest player to reach $1 million in earnings, which she achieved in 2004 at age 20. This record was broken the following year by Paula Creamer.
She joined the Ladies European Tour in 2010 and competed in six events, including two that were co-sanctioned with the LPGA. She earned her first win on the LET in 2011 at the Sicilian Italian Ladies Open.
Kim's autobiography, Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star, co-written with Alan Shipnuck was published in 2010.
Professional wins (5)
LPGA Tour (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 26, 2004 | Longs Drugs Challenge | 64-69-68-65=266 | −18 | 1 stroke |  Karrie Webb |
| 2 | Nov 13, 2005 | The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions | 67-67-72-67=273 | −15 | 1 stroke | Rachel Hetherington |
| 3 | Nov 16, 2014 | Lorena Ochoa Invitational | 65-69-68-71=273 | −15 | Playoff |  Shanshan Feng |
LPGA Tour playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010 | Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic |  Na Yeon Choi In-Kyung Kim Song-Hee Kim | Choi won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 2 | 2014 | Lorena Ochoa Invitational | Shanshan Feng | Won with par on second extra hole |
Ladies European Tour (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 9, 2011 | Sicilian Ladies Italian Open | −7 (70-69-70=209) | 4 strokes |  Giulia Sergas |
Futures Tour (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 4, 2002 | Hewlett-Packard Garden State FUTURES Summer Classic | 66-67-66=199 | −14 | Playoff |  Lorena Ochoa |
Futures Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2002 | Hewlett-Packard Garden State FUTURES Summer Classic | Lorena Ochoa | Won with birdie on sixth extra hole |
Results in LPGA majors
Results not in chronological order before 2015.
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | DNP | DNP | T28 | T8 | T39 | 52 | T24 | CUT | 7 |
| Women's PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | CUT | T6 | T33 | T61 | T56 | CUT | CUT |
| U.S. Women's Open | T48 | DNP | T22 | T37 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T53 | T52 |
| Women's British Open | DNP | DNP | CUT | T13 | T28 | T45 | T58 | T64 | T3 |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | CUT | CUT | T75 | DNP | T16 | T11 | CUT |
| Women's PGA Championship | T25 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | T39 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T8 | CUT | CUT | T31 | DNP | CUT | T26 |
| Women's British Open | T9 | CUT | DNP | CUT | T54 | T31 | T50 |
| The Evian Championship ^ | T31 | T54 | T64 | CUT | |||
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNP = did not play
T = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 9 |
| Women's PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 6 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 8 |
| Women's British Open | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 10 |
| The Evian Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 58 | 36 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2004 Kraft Nabisco – 2005 LPGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)
LPGA Tour career summary
| Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made* | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings ($) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T48 | n/a | 74.00 | ||
| 2003 | 28 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | T4 | 215,632 | 49 | 72.37 | 55 |
| 2004 | 31 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 636,290 | 15 | 71.22 | 19 |
| 2005 | 30 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 621,149 | 19 | 71.66 | 21 |
| 2006 | 29 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | T5 | 355,656 | 35 | 72.24 | 52 |
| 2007 | 29 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 626,075 | 23 | 72.18 | 26 |
| 2008 | 30 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | T2 | 678,598 | 27 | 71.85 | 32 |
| 2009 | 24 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | T3 | 344,055 | 38 | 72.29 | 49 |
| 2010 | 24 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | T2 | 436,050 | 26 | 72.17 | 38 |
| 2011 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T13 | 149,275 | 58 | 72.86 | 56 |
| 2012 | 19 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T49 | 38,384 | 110 | 74.02 | 111 |
| 2013 | 20 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T11 | 126,535 | 76 | 73.07 | 100 |
| 2014 | 27 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 570,374 | 27 | 71.62 | 38 |
| 2015 | 29 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | T8 | 234,153 | 69 | 72.01 | 57 |
| 2016 | 27 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 411,030 | 45 | 72.51 | 89 |
- Official as of 2016 season
* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.
LET career summary
| Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings (€) | Order of Merit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | T2 | 108,461 | 16 |
| 2011 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 63,412 | 35 |
- includes events co-sanctioned with the LPGA Tour (Evian Masters and Women's British Open)
Futures Tour summary
| Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings ($) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | T2 | n/a | 72.09 | |||
| 2002 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 53,460 | 2 | 71.47 | 2 |
Team appearances
Professional
- Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 2005 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011
- Lexus Cup (representing International team): 2008 (winners)
Solheim Cup record
| Year | Total matches | Total W-L-H | Singles W-L-H | Foursomes W-L-H | Fourballs W-L-H | Points won | Points % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 10 | 6-2-2 | 3-0-0 | 2-1-1 | 1-1-1 | 7.0 | 70.0 |
| 2005 | 4 | 2-1-1 | 1-0-0 def L. Kreutz 5&4 | 1-0-1 halved w/ P. Hurst, won w/ N. Gulbis 4&2 | 0-1-0 lost w/ P. Hurst 4&2 | 2.5 | 62.5 |
| 2009 | 4 | 3-1-0 | 1-0-0 def T. Elosegui 2 up | 1-1-0 won w/ N. Gulbis 4&2, lost w/N. Gulbis 5&4 | 1-0-0 won w/ M. Wie 5&4 | 3 | 75.0 |
| 2011 | 2 | 1-0-1 | 1-0-0 def M. Hjorth 4&2 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 halved w/ R. O'Toole | 1.5 | 75.0 |