Updated: March, 2022

HYE JUNG CHOI

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The Facts
Birthday: November 3, 1984
Rookie Year on LPGA: 2006
Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea
American Home City: None
Best LPGA Finish: T-6th (2007 MasterCard Classic)
Best LPGA Major Finish: T-25th (2007 US Women's Open)
Best Score: 65 (2008 Evian Masters)
Best Scoring Average for a year: 72.69 (2008)
Best Season Money Total: $293,384 (2007)
Best Season Money Position: 45th (2007)
Most Top Tens/Season: 4 (2007)
Height: 5' 5"
2022 LPGA Status: Retired (On KLPGA tour)
Nicknames: HJ, Hye Choi
Family: daughter
Sponsors: Volvik
How's her English?: Unknown
Hobbies: Cooking, shopping
Road to the LPGA: Gained non-exempt status on tour at 2005 Q-School

Capsule Bio

As an amateur, Hye Jung Choi won the 1999 Korean Junior Championship among other titles.

Hye Jung Choi turned professional in 2002, but did not join the KLPGA until 2004. She made four top ten finishes on the 2005 Futures Tour, and gained her LPGA non-exempt tour card by playing in the 2005 LPGA Q-School and finishing 54th.

Choi decided to focus on the Futures Tour. She played well there, even winning an event in late April. She ended up finishing 13th on the Futures Tour money list, and thus was given a pass into the LPGA's Q-School final round. She played wonderfully there, eventually tying In-Kyung Kim for co-medalist honors and thus earning her exempt card for the 2007 LPGA tour.

In 2007, Choi had a solid season, finishing in the top 50 on the money list and scoring 4 top ten finishes in the process. She easily kept her exempt status for 2008. In addition, she won her first KLPGA tournament at the Hite Cup Championship.

In 2008 and 2009, HJ's record was much the same as 2007. She made some noise with a 65 at the Evian Masters in 2008.

In 2010, Choi focused on the KLPGA tour most of the year, and as a result did not maintain membership on the LPGA tour. She returned to Korea to play full time on the KLPGA.

That proved to be a good decision on HJ's part, for she had a fairly good 2011 season in her home country. She finished 9th on the money list with three top tens. But by far the highlight of the year for her came at the year's second Major, the MetLife KLPGA Championship. Choi put herself into contention through three rounds on a course that was playing fairly tough. But in the final round, Choi produced one of the greatest rounds in KLPGA history, a scintillating 10 under par 62. She vaulted past top players like So Yeon Ryu (who had recently won the US Women's Open) and Soo Jin Yang to capture the title, her first Major. To put this in perspective: the next best score all week was Yang's final round 67.

HJ Choi was busy in 2012 with the birth of her daughter! She did play a few events early in the season, but took the rest of the year off to care for her child. She returned to action in 2013 and had a decent year, finishing 17th on the money list with over 200 million won earned. Her best finish was a runner-up at the Lotte Cantata Open; she had several other top tens as well.

Choi had.a lakcluster 2014 season. She only made about 50 million won and finished 52nd on the money list. Her best result was a pair of 8th place finishes. She struggled a lot in 2015. She missed a bunch of cuts and finished only 94th on the tour money list. Her best finish all year was a 14th place.

Choi didn't play at all in 2016, and just once in 2017 in a minor league tournament. She continued in the minor leagues in 2018, but has not played at all since then and may have retired.
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