JIN YOUNG PAK

Jin Young decided to join the Futures Tour for 2005, and began training hard even before she had graduated from high school. Her regimen included hitting 1,000 golf balls a day and practicing her English three times a week. Like many Koreans gifted in golf, she had decided to come over to America to further her career, and so moved to Florida and spent five months honing her game at the George Beardsley Golf School in Tampa.

She completed her high school education by correspondence and received her degree in February, 2005. Barely a month later, she played her first Futures Tour event. She was just hoping to make the cut, but after two rounds, found herself in contention. With grit and determination, and despite shaking from nerves, she outlasted several other golfers - including several fellow Koreans - to capture her first professional win in her first pro tournament, the Lakeland Futures Golf Classic in Lakeland, Florida.

Jin Young was not able to secure an exempt card on the LPGA in 2005, but at 2006 LPGA Q-School, she just missed earning one. She did earn a non-exempt card for 2007, however, finishing tied for 18th, two shots out of exempt level.

In 2007, her rookie year, Jin Young struggled with injuries. It took until July for her to actually make it all the way through her second event on tour, but at that event, the Jamie Farr, she played extremely well. She was even in the final group on Saturday, playing with Korean superstar (and her idol) Se Ri Pak (who, despite the same last name, is no relation). She stumbled a bit on the final day, however, and finished just out of the top ten.

Later in the year, she notched her best finish, a fifth at the Northwest Arkansas tournament. She even had a chance to win it. But because of weather, the event was shortened to one round, and the results did not count. She pocketed a nice check, but the money was all unofficial!

In the end, Jin Young finished just out of the running for a non-exempt card, and thus had no status on tour for 2008.

She played on the Futures Tour in 2008, and finished fifth on the money list, earning a full membership on the LPGA for 2009. She had her best LPGA season ever that year, even notching her first official top ten at the LPGA Championship, and finishing in the top 100 on the money list.

2010 was a pretty weak year for her, however. She played in 9 events and missed 6 cuts. She went back to Qualifying School in the Fall, and finished tied for 14th to earn full membership on tour in 2011.

She did decently on tour in 2011. Her money list position of 82nd was not enough to give her category 1 status, but it still got her category 11 status.

She played pretty much the same in 2012. She ended up 88th on the money list with around $70,000 in earnings. So, she earned a category 11 status once again for 2013.

Pak had a poor 2013 season, however. She earned just $18,000 all year and lost playing privileges for 2014. Pak moved back to Korea, where she played on the KLPGA tour in 2014. She finished 90th on their money list, with her best finish a 27th. In 2015, she missed most of the cuts in her KLPGA events, and by the end of the year was playing in the minor leagues in Korea.