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In-Kyung Kim spent almost her entire amateur
golf career to date playing in South Korea. Thus, she was
virtually unknown when she came over to America in the Spring
of 2005 to play a few months worth of tournaments. But by
the end of the summer, she was anything but unknown. In her
first three Junior events played in the States, she had three
wins. Still, no one expected much when she went to compete
in the US Girl's Junior, the most prestigious junior golf
event for girls in the world.
But she stunned the world by making her way
through the ranks until she wound up in the finals against
In-Bee Park. Park had already finished first and second in
this event in the past, and since this was the final year
she would be eligible to play, she was intent on taking the
title one more time. But Kim proved too much for Park right
from the beginning, and the match turned into a rout, with
Kim winning 5 and 4.
Kim also played the US Women's Amateur later
in the summer, where she earned the medalist honors for low
score in the preliminary portion. Unfortunately, she ran into
a Korean American player named Angela Park playing the best
golf of her life, and In-Kyung lost to her in the quarterfinals.
In-Kyung was more low key in 2006, although
she did play a few of the big amateur events. Her main focus
was on preparing for Q-School. She remained amateur just in
case things didn't go well, but that turned out to be an unnecessary
concern. She won the 2006 Futures Tour Q-School, then, a few
weeks later, finished co-medalist at LPGA Q-School as well.
She turned pro right after LPGA Q-School, and had full exempt
status on tour in 2007.
In-Kyung's rookie year was a very good one.
Although she never seriously challenged Angela Park for top
rookie honors, she had four top tens, finished in the top
forty on the money list to earn a two year exemption, and
finished second in the rookie of the year standings. The highlight
of her year came at the Rochester tournament midyear. She
had a three shot lead over Lorena Ochoa with two holes to
go, but Ochoa made eagle on the 17th hole, Kim made par, then
Kim just missed a short par save on 18 for the win. She lost
the playoff to Ochoa. Kim was so close to winning, but would
have to wait until 2008 to try to collect her first trophy.
At the end of 2007, In-Kyung was one of the
members of Team Asia at the Lexus Cup. She was, in fact, more
than just a member: she teamed with Se Ri Pak to win both
team matches, than won her singles match as well to go undefeated
for the week. She also came up with the idea for everyone
to paint slogans on their faces and arms, a bonding exercise
that helped rally Asia to the victory.
If 2007 was a great start to her career, 2008
was a fantastic second act. She started the year in style
with top tens in two of her first three events. She cooled
off for a while after that, but returned with a vengeance
at the US Women's Open, where she finished tied for third
with Angela Park, her best ever Major finish. She also notched
a top ten at the British Open in 2008.
She got hot again in September, running off
a string of great finishes that culminated in her first professional
win at the Longs Drugs Challenge in October. With over $700,000
in earnings in 2008, her season was an unqualified success.
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