Quick Facts
CancerBiography
Hee-kyung Seo (Korean: 서희경, born 8 July 1986), also known as Seo Hee-kyung, is a former South Korean female professional golfer playing on the LPGA Tour and on LPGA of Korea Tour. She won the LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year award in 2011.
After winning three LPGA of Korea Tour major championships in 2009, Seo notched her first LPGA Tour triumph at the 2010 Kia Classic where she finished six shots ahead of Inbee Park.
Seo had a close call in the 2011 U.S. Women's Open when she led by two shots with two holes to play, but she missed a 4 footer for par on the 71st hole, while So Yeon Ryu birdied the 72nd hole, resulting in a playoff, which Ryu went on to win.
Seo also came close at the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship, where she led by three strokes at one point, but bogeys on the last four holes would result in her finishing two strokes back of winner Sun Young Yoo.
On 30 November 2013, she married Junghoon Philip Kook (born 1979), an investment banker based in Seoul, and gave a birth to their son, Dohyun Philip Kook on 15 August 2014, on the Independence Day of Korea. Seoofficially retired from professional golf in November 2015 to spend more time with her family.
Professional wins
LPGA Tour (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 Mar 2010 | Kia Classic | −12 (70-67-69-70=276) | 6 strokes | Inbee Park |
LPGA Tour playoff record (0–4)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011 | U.S. Women's Open | So Yeon Ryu | Lost three hole aggregate playoff: Ryu: 3-4-3=10 (−2), Seo: 3-6-4=13 (+1) |
| 2 | 2012 | Women's Australian Open | Julieta Granada Jessica Korda Stacy Lewis Brittany Lincicome So Yeon Ryu | Korda won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 3 | 2012 | Manulife Financial LPGA Classic | Chella Choi Brittany Lang Inbee Park | Lang won with birdie on third extra hole Park eliminated with birdie on second hole Choi eliminated with birdie on first hole |
| 4 | 2013 | LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship | Amy Yang | Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
KLPGA Tour (11)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 Aug 2008 | High1 Cup SBS Charity Ladies Open | −8 (68-68-72=208) | 2 strokes | Inbee Park |
| 2 | 7 Sep 2008 | KB Star Tour 3rd Tournament at Cheongwon | −7 (68-69-72=207) | 1 stroke | Ha-Neul Kim Hye-Youn Kim |
| 3 | 13 Sep 2008 | Binhai Open | −9 (70-66-71=207) | 5 strokes | Taoli Yang Danielle Montgomery |
| 4 | 12 Oct 2008 | Gabia-Interburgo Masters | −11 (70-69-69=208) | 3 strokes | Ha-Neul Kim He-Yong Choi Hyun-Ji Kim |
| 5 | 16 Nov 2008 | Saint Four Ladies Masters in Jeju^ | −14 (69-67-66=202) | 2 strokes | Sun Ju Ahn |
| 6 | 23 Nov 2008 | ADT CAPS Championship | −2 (78-72-64=214) | 3 strokes | Ae-Ree Pyun Hye-Jung Kim |
| 7 | 17 Apr 2009 | MBC Tour Lotte Mart Ladies Open | −6 (71-72-67=210) | 1 stroke | Sun Ju Ahn, Ilhee Lee |
| 8 | 3 May 2009 | Taeyoung Cup Korea Women's Open | −9 (70-71-66=207) | 1 stroke | Bo Kyung Kim |
| 9 | 18 Oct 2009 | Hite Cup Championship | −9 (72-71-68-68=279) | 5 strokes | Na Yeon Choi |
| 10 | 25 Oct 2009 | KB Star Tour Grand Final at Incheon | −16 (69-66-68-69=272) | 1 stroke | Jang Ha-na (amateur) |
| 11 | 22 Nov 2009 | ADT CAPS Championship | −6 (73-71-66=210) | 3 strokes | Jeong-Eun Lee |
Tournaments in bold denotes major championships on KLPGA Tour.
^ Co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour
Results in LPGA majors
Results not in chronological order before 2015.
| Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | T21 | T33 | T4 | T13 | CUT | ||
| Women's PGA Championship | T34 | CUT | CUT | T41 | |||
| U.S. Women's Open | T48 | T62 | 2 | T18 | T25 | ||
| Women's British Open | T5 | T22 | T26 | T25 | |||
| The Evian Championship ^ | T64 | ||||||
CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Women's PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Women's British Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| The Evian Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 16 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (2009 U.S. Open – 2012 Kraft Nabisco)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)
LPGA Tour career summary
| Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings ($) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 17,680 | n/a | 72.00 | n/a |
| 2008 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 19,920 | n/a | 72.00 | n/a |
| 2009 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 73,659 | n/a | 73.31 | n/a |
| 2010 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 369,089 | n/a | 72.96 | n/a |
| 2011 | 21 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 619,429 | 21 | 71.78 | 21 |
| 2012 | 25 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | T2 | 600,403 | 22 | 71.57 | 25 |
| 2013 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 446,373 | 33 | 71.74 | 38 |
| 2014 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T29 | 30,315 | 128 | 73.43 | n/a |
| 2015 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T41 | 34,050 | 123 | 73.64 | n/a |
- Seo was not a member of the LPGA Tour prior to 2011. Earnings and records for those years are not official.
- official as of the 2015 season