Annie Park is a Korean American born and raised
on Long Island. She was a top junior golfer, and made history in
2012 by becoming the first girl to win the Nassau Boys High School
Championship (she won by six shots).
She went to USC in late 2012, and immediately became
one of the most dominating college golfers in the country. She helped
lead USC to its third national title, won the 2013 WGCA and Pac12
Player and Freshman of the Year awards, and collected the Honda
Sports Award for top women college golfer. She won four titles that
season, including the PAC12 championship, the NCAA West Regional
and the NCAA Title. She became only the second woman to sweep Conference,
Regional and National titles in the same year. At the NCAA Championship,
she came close to setting the all time scoring record as well.
Park played at the 2013 US Women's Open at Sebonack
CC. She was the only 'hometown girl' in the field, but alas she
missed the cut.
Park continued to play for USC in 2014. She played
the 2014 Kraft Nabisco but missed the cut. She also represented
the US at the Curtis Cup, where she was 3-1, and the World University
Golf Championship, where she helped the US finish second.
She turned pro in 2015 and joined the Symetra Tour.
In just eleven events, she won three times and earned full playing
privileges for the LPGA in 2016. She also led that tour's money
list by year's end, even though she played half as many events as
the other players did. She won the tour's Player and Rookie of the
Year awards as well.
In 2016, Annie Park had a good LPGA rookie year,
notching two top tens and making around $172,000. She finished 82nd
on the money list, which left her with category 11 status for 2017.
Her best moment of the season came at the year's final Major, the
Evian Championship, where she shot a blazing 64 in the first round
to temporarily put herself in the hunt for the title. She faded
after that, but her 22nd place finish was still her best ever in
a Major.
Annie struggled in her second season on tour in
2017. She did not manage even a single top twenty, and made only
about $60,000 all year. This left her at 126th on the money list,
and her status for 2018 sunk to category 20.
Annie had a hard time getting into fields at the
beginning of the 2018 season. All that changed at the Mediheal event
in April, her first event of the year, where she managed a tie for
18th finish. Tour status was recalculated soon afterwards, and her
good play enabled her to get a better status. She made it into several
more fields.
One of those tournaments was the ShopRite Classic,
where she had notched her previous best LPGA finish, a tie for 6th,
in 2016. This time, she was even better, shooting a second round
65 and third round 63, her career best score. Thus she seized her
first win on tour, a shocking result considering where she had been
just a few months previous.
The rest of the year she played decently. She nearly
won again in Shanghai, finishing tied for second. She also had a
tie for 18th at the KPMG, her best Major result. She wound up 40th
on the money list with nearly $550K earned.
Annie's 2019 season was just a tiny bit less impressive
than 2018. She once again managed three top tens, including a tie
for third. She made around $407,000, which put her 50th on the money
list. But most impressively, she made her first Solheim Cup team.
Her record was 1 win, 2 losses and no ties.
In 2020, the whole world was rocked by the Covid-19
pandemic. The LPGA and KLPGA tours canceled and postponed many tournaments.
Annie played two events in Florida before the stoppage, including
the Tournament of Champions, where she finished sixth, her best
result of the year. When action resumed in late July, she played
an additional 12 events, making all but 4 cuts. She earned more
than $118,000 for the year, finishing 79th on the money list.
Annie had a slightly weaker year in 2021. She earned
around $123,000 and finished 103rd on the money list. She slipped
to category 11 for 2022. Her best finish was a t-12th.
Annie rebounded somewhat in 2022. She made a hair
over $200,000 and finished 94th on the money list, which allowed
her to stay at category 11 for 2023. She had two top tens, one at
the match play, where she lost in the round of 16, and the other
a t-5th at the PalosVerdes Championship, near where she played college
golf. She missed 12 cuts during the year.
Annie had more struggles in 2023. She missed 14
cuts, with her best finish a tie for 12th. She ended up with $94,000
made for the season, 129th on the money list. She went back to Q
Series but was only able to finish tied for 54th. She will have
category 15 status in 2024.
|