Candie Kung (born 8 August 1981) is an American
professional golferIn golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained. An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose his or her amateur status. A golfer who has lost his or her amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated;...
of Taiwanese descent who plays on the U.S.-based
LPGA TourThe LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...
.
Amateur career
Kung was born in
KaohsiungKaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
,
TaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. She was a three-time
American Junior Golf AssociationThe American Junior Golf Association is a "501 nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf." AJGA is considered by many leaders in the golf industry to be the premier...
(AJGA)
All-AmericaAn All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n and was named 1999 AJGA Player of the Year. She won the 2001
U.S. Women's Amateur Public LinksThe U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, is a women's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the USGA and first played in 1977. The USGA officially calls the event the U.S. Women's Amateur...
. While at the
University of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, Kung was a two-time
NCAAThe National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
All-American and won the 2000 Pac-10 Championship.
Professional career
After turning pro in 2001, Kung initially played on the second tier
Futures TourThe LPGA Futures Tour, previously styled in uppercase as FUTURES Tour and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed FUTURES Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour...
, and she won the SBC Futures Tour Championship that year. She tied for 15th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to win a place on the main tour for 2002. She had a solid rookie season, finishing 36th on the money list. In 2003 she won her first three LPGA events, and was sixth on the money list. She finished 17th on the money list in 2004, tied for 11th in 2005, and 29th in 2006. Kung won her fourth LPGA tournament at the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship in 2008.
Kung came close to winning the 2009 U.S. Women's Open. She finished the tournament at one over 285 and was tied for first till
Eun-Hee JiEun-Hee Ji is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the U.S. based LPGA Tour. She is also a member of the South Korean KLPGA....
birdied the final hole to take home the title.
Personal information
Kung was born in Taiwan and moved to the United States in 1995. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in approximately 2005; She does not hold dual citizenship. She currently lives in
Allen, TexasAllen is a city in Collin County, Texas, United States, a northern suburb of Dallas. As of the 2010 census the city had a total population of 84,246.-Geography:According to the City of Allen, the city has a total area of...
.
LPGA Tour (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 |
19 Apr 2003 The 2003 LPGA Tour was the 54th season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from March 13 to November 23. The season consisted of 31 official money events. Annika Sörenstam won the most tournaments, six...
|
LPGA Takefuji Classic The LPGA Takefuji Classic was an annual golf tournament for professional female golfers on the LPGA Tour that took place every year from 2000 through 2006. Between 2000 and 2002 it was held at two different courses in Hawaii...
|
-12 (67-67-70=204) |
2 strokes |
Soo-Yun KangSoo-Yun Kang is a female golfer in the LPGA. She is often referred to as the "Fashion Model of the Fairways" for her model-like physique and clothing.... , Cristie KerrCristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings... , Annika SörenstamAnnika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...
|
| 2 |
24 Aug 2000 The 2000 LPGA Tour was the 51st season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 13 to November 19. The season consisted of 36 official money events. Karrie Webb won the most tournaments, seven. She also led the money list with earnings of $1,876,853.The U.S...
|
Wachovia LPGA Classic The Wachovia LPGA Classic was an annual golf tournament for professional female golfers on the LPGA Tour that took place at the Berkleigh Country Club in Kutztown, Pennsylvania from 1996 through 2004...
|
-14 (71-67-66-70=274) |
2 strokes |
Meg Mallon, Se Ri PakPak Se Ri is a South Korean professional golfer, playing on the LPGA Tour. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in November 2007.-Career overview:...
|
| 3 |
31 Aug 2003 The 2003 LPGA Tour was the 54th season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from March 13 to November 23. The season consisted of 31 official money events. Annika Sörenstam won the most tournaments, six...
|
State Farm Classic The LPGA State Farm Classic is a golf tournament for professional female golfers that is part of the LPGA Tour. It has been played annually since 1976 in Springfield, Illinois, United States. From 1976 through 2006, the tournament was held at The Rail Golf Course...
|
-14 (64-67-71=202) |
1 stroke |
Laura DaviesLaura Jane Davies CBE is an English professional golfer.She is considered the most accomplished English female golfer of modern times being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA money list...
|
| 4 |
2 Nov 2008 The 2008 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that took place from February through December 2008. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States based Ladies Professional Golf Association...
|
Hana Bank-KOLON Championship |
-6 (70-71-69=210) |
1 stroke |
Katherine HullKatherine Hull is an Australian professional golfer currently playing on the United States-based LPGA Tour and on the ALPG Tour.-Amateur career:...
|
LPGA Tour playoff record (0-1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
| 1 |
2008 |
Navistar LPGA Classic The Navistar LPGA Classic Presented by Monaco RV is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. The 72-hole event made its debut in September 2007 at the Capitol Hill location on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Prattville, Alabama. Maria Hjorth won the inaugural event on the...
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Cristie KerrCristie Kerr is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has 14 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $13 million in career earnings...
Lorena OchoaLorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...
|
Ochoa won with par on second extra hole Kerr eliminated with par on first hole |
Results in LPGA majors
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Kraft Nabisco Championship The Kraft Nabisco Championship is one of the four major championships on the LPGA Tour. It was founded in 1972 by Dinah Shore and has been classified as a major since 1983...
|
DNP |
DNP |
CUT |
DNP |
T28 |
T8 |
T9 |
T24 |
T60 |
T21 |
T30 |
| LPGA Championship The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour...
|
DNP |
DNP |
DNP |
CUT |
CUT |
T64 |
T13 |
T44 |
DNP |
T10 |
T57 |
| U.S. Women's Open |
CUT |
DNP |
DNP |
DNP |
CUT |
T5 |
T6 |
T28 |
T58 |
T19 |
2 |
Women's British OpenThe Women's British Open is a leading event in women's professional golf and the only tournament which is classified as a major championship by both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been called the Ricoh Women's British Open, for sponsorship reasons...
|
- |
- |
DNP |
T4 |
T10 |
T29 |
T22 |
T10 |
T33 |
T42 |
CUT |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 |
| Kraft Nabisco Championship The Kraft Nabisco Championship is one of the four major championships on the LPGA Tour. It was founded in 1972 by Dinah Shore and has been classified as a major since 1983...
|
T69 |
T62 |
| LPGA Championship The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour...
|
72 |
T20 |
| U.S. Women's Open |
T28 |
T13 |
Women's British OpenThe Women's British Open is a leading event in women's professional golf and the only tournament which is classified as a major championship by both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been called the Ricoh Women's British Open, for sponsorship reasons...
|
CUT |
T14 |
DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
External links