Ji Young's rookie season started in rough
fashion, with her missing the cut in 9 of her first 11 events.
In the other two she came close to making top twenties, however,
so at least there was some promise there. But her rookie season
reached a turning point at the Safeway Classic in August.
She took the first round lead and played with Lorena Ochoa
in the final group on day 2. Only a final hole bogey prevented
her from finishing with a top five; she wound up 6th.
Although she would not make another top ten,
she played well in three of her remaining four events of the
year, including a tie for 12th at the Kolon-Hana Bank Championship.
She easily maintained her exempt status for 2008.
Ji Young's breakout season came in 2008. She
only missed one cut in the first half of the year, and notched
a top ten. But she really started to cruise in the summer.
She finished 10th at the Jamie Farr, then stunned everyone
with her first win the following week at the State Farm Classic.
Even more impressively, she beat super rookie Yani Tseng in
a playoff to do it. She earned well over $600,000 by the end
of the year, and made the cut in all four Majors, including
her first top 20 in a Major at the British Open.
2009 was another very good season for Ji Young.
She had almost an identical money list position as in 2008,
finishing 24th. She also chalked up her second career win
at the Sybase Classic, and did it in dominating fashion; she
never looked like she would lose from the time she had a hole
in one in the first round.
In the off-season, Ji Young trained with Jiyai
Shin in Australia. She worked very hard on her fitness in
particular. But Oh didn't win in 2010, and actually had a
significantly worse season than her two previous years. In
fact, she didn't even manage a top ten. Her 72nd place finish
on the money list was still good enough for her to maintain
full status for 2011.
Oh's struggles got worse in 2011. She made
only one cut all year, and that was a 54th place finish. She
would not have even had status on tour were it not for her
two wins, which gave her category 4 status for 2012.
Things got slightly better for Oh in 2012.
She made all but five cuts, but did not have a better finish
than a tie for 42nd. She wound up 109th on the money list,
which allowed her to hang on to limited tour status for 2013.
Oh made something of her limited status that
season. She played in 18 tournaments, making 12 cuts. Though
she earned only about $85,000, it was enough to finish 87th
on the money list, which improved her tour status slightly
to category 11 for 2014.
Oh's comeback continued in 2014. She actually
had her best ever Major finish, a T-16th at the Evian. She
made over $170,000 and finished 73rd on the money list, which
allowed her to climb to category 1 status. The other highlight
of Oh's year came when she served as one of the four bridesmaids
at the wedding of Korean golf superstar Inbee Park.
Oh made about $55,000 in 2015, her best finish
being a tie for 25th. She finished 110th on the money list,
and so earned limited status for the 2016 season. In 2016,
she had an even weaker season, earning just $32,000 and finishing
136th on the money list. She missed most of her cuts, with
her best finish a tie for 26th at the Manulife Classic, her
final event of the season.
Oh played five times on the LPGA in 2017,
but missed all the cuts. She had category 18 status for 2018,
but decided to retire.
|