Choi Na-yeon

Na Yeon Choi (Korean: 최나연 [tɕʰwe najʌn]; born 28 October 1987) is a South Korean female professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. In July 2012, she won the U.S. Women's Open for her first major championship.

At age 17 in 2004, Choi won the ADT CAPS Invitational on the LPGA of Korea Tour (KLPGA), beating future Hall-of-Famer Se Ri Pak by four strokes. Choi turned professional shortly thereafter, in November 2004. She won once each year on the KLPGA Tour in 2004 through 2007.

In 2007, Choi played in the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship, an event co-sponsored by the LPGA and KLPGA Tours, and finished eighth. She attended LPGA Qualifying Tournament in the fall of 2007, but finished two shots shy of earning a fully exempt Tour card for the 2008 season. Her non-exempt card meant she was not automatically eligible for every event, yet her high conditional status and consistent good play put her in nearly every tournament. She won over $1 million and finished 11th on the 2008 money list with nine top-10 finishes in 27 events played. She finished second in the LPGA Rookie of the Year race, just behind winner Yani Tseng.

In 2009, Choi won twice on the LPGA Tour. In October she won the 20-player Samsung World Championship. Two weeks later she won the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship, an event co-sanctioned with the KLPGA. Her third LPGA Tour win came in July 2010 at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at which she beat three other players on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. In 2010, Choi was both the LPGA Tour money leader and the leading scorer (Vare Trophy).

LPGA Tour wins (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Earnings ($)
1	20 Sep 2009	Samsung World Championship	71-67-63-71=272	−16	1 stroke	Ai Miyazato	250,000
2	1 Nov 2009	Hana Bank-KOLON Championship	68-71-67=206	−10	1 stroke	Maria Hjorth Yani Tseng	255,000
3	4 Jul 2010	Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic	64-67-68-71=270	−14	Playoff	Christina Kim In-Kyung Kim Song-Hee Kim	150,000
4	31 Oct 2010	LPGA Hana Bank Championship	69-68-69=206	−10	2 strokes	Vicky Hurst	270,000
5	16 Oct 2011	Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia	66-68-67-68=269	−15	1 stroke	Yani Tseng	285,000
6	8 Jul 2012	U.S. Women's Open	71-72-65-73=281	−7	4 strokes	Amy Yang	585,000
7	18 Nov 2012	CME Group Titleholders	67-68-69-70=274	−14	2 strokes	So Yeon Ryu	500,000
8	31 Jan 2015	Coates Golf Championship	68-70-66-68=272	−16	1 stroke	Jang Ha-na Lydia Ko Jessica Korda	225,000
9	28 Jun 2015	Walmart NW Arkansas Championship	66-63-69=198	−15	2 strokes	Mika Miyazato	300,000

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2008	Evian Masters	Helen Alfredsson Angela Park	Alfredsson won with birdie on third extra hole Park eliminated with birdie on first hole
2	2010	Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic	Christina Kim In-Kyung Kim Song-Hee Kim	Won with birdie on second extra hole
3	2011	Safeway Classic	Suzann Pettersen	Lost to par on first extra hole
4	2012	HSBC Women's Champions	Shanshan Feng Jenny Shin Angela Stanford	Stanford won with par on third extra hole Choi eliminated with par on second hole Feng eliminated with par on first hole

LPGA of Korea Tour wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	6 Nov 2004	ADT CAPS Invitational (as an amateur)	68-66-68=202	−14	4 strokes	Pak Se-ri Han Ji-yeon Kim So-hee
2	3 Jun 2005	Lakeside Ladies Open	71-69-71=211	−5	1 stroke	Lim Seo-hyun Shin Eun-jeong Kim Seon-A
3	30 Sep 2006	KB Star Tour 3rd Tournament in Hampyeong	68-67-69=204	−12	3 strokes	Jiyai Shin
4	21 Sep 2007	Shinsegae Cup KLPGA Championship	68-69-68=205	−11	3 strokes	Ji Eun-hee
5	1 Nov 2009	Hana Bank-KOLON Championship (co-sanctioned with LPGA)	67-68-71=206	−10	1 stroke	Yani Tseng Maria Hjorth
6	31 Oct 2010	LPGA Hana Bank Championship (co-sanctioned with LPGA)	69-69-68=206	−10	2 strokes	Vicky Hurst
7	4 Sep 2011	Hanwha Finance Classic	72-75-71-69=287	−1	4 strokes	Choi Hye-yong
8	9 Dec 2012	Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters	73-68-72=213	−3	Playoff	Teresa Lu

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
2012	U.S. Women's Open	−7 (71-72-65-73=281)	4 strokes	Amy Yang

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
T = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (twice)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2009 LPGA – 2009 British Open)

• official through 2016 season

Professional

• Lexus Cup (representing Asia team): 2008
• International Crown (representing South Korea): 2014