Amy Yang Facts: 20 Things To Know About Korean LPGA Tour Star
Get to know Major champion and multiple LPGA Tour winner, Amy Yang, a little bit better with these 20 facts
Amy Yang is a veteran of the LPGA Tour and women's golf landscape, with the Korean star winning on the Ladies European Tour as an amateur in 2006 before going on to win her maiden Major title 18 years later.
Yang has won six times on the LPGA Tour in an impressive career. Get to know her better with these facts...
Amy Yang facts:
1. Amy Yang, also known as Yang Hee-Young, was born 28th July 1989 in South Korea.
2. She started playing golf at the age of 10 and credits her family, particularly her parents, as the individuals who have had the most influence on her career.
3. At the age of 15, she moved to the Gold Coast in Australia and, in 2005, won the Queensland Amateur Championship. To this day, she is still the youngest winner of the event at just 15-years of age.
4. The following year, at the 2006 Australian Junior Championship, Yang finished second.
5. Her hobbies include shopping, watching movies and meeting friends.
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6. At the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters, a Ladies European Tour event, Yang claimed the title and became the youngest winner ever on the LET at 16 years, 192 days. The record held for over a decade and was then broken by Atthaya Thitikul in July 2017. Thitikul was just 14-years-old.
7. Turning professional in 2006, Yang was offered a special exemption to join the LET at the age of 17 and became their youngest ever member.
8. At the first time of trying, Yang secured non-exempt status for the 2008 LPGA Tour season and picked up her first win as a professional at the Ladies German Open. After winning, she revealed that she would be donating all of her prize money ($60,000) to victims of a recent earthquake in China.
9. At the 2009 LPGA Corning Classic, she made her first ace on the LPGA Tour.
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10. At the LPGA Tour's Tournament of Champions in 2020, she played alongside basketball point guard, Deron Williams, as well as American actor, Alfonso Ribeiro.
11. After a number of close calls, Yang eventually won on the LPGA Tour at the 2013 LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship. She birdied the first sudden-death playoff hole to defeat Hee-Kyung Seo.
12. She is a three-time winner of the Honda LPGA Thailand event on the LPGA Tour, claiming victories in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
13. Yang is known as one of the game's most consistent performers and, from 2012 to 2019, missed just 17 cuts in 179 starts.
14. She represented South Korea at the 2016 Olympics and just missed out on a medal after finishing in a tie for fourth.
15. She won the LPGA Tour's 2023 CME Group Tour Championship to earn a huge $2 million paycheck.
16. She enjoyed her most successful year financially in 2023, picking up $3.2 million in 20 tournaments.
17. Yang won her maiden Major title by three strokes in her 75th start at the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee.
18. Her previous best Major results were 2nd at the 2012 and 2015 US Women's Opens.
19. Yang moved up to a career-high of 3rd in the world rankings in the summer of 2024.
20. She played in her second Olympic Games at Paris 2024.
Full name | Yang Hee-Young |
Born | July 28 1989, Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea |
Resides | Orlando, Florida |
Turned pro | 2006 |
Current tour | LPGA Tour |
LPGA wins | 6 |
Major wins | 1 (2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship) |
Tournament | Tour | Score |
---|---|---|
2006 ANZ Ladies Masters* | Ladies European Tour | -13 (playoff) |
2008 Ladies German Open | Ladies European Tour | -21 (4 strokes) |
2008 Scandinavian TPC Hosted by Annika | Ladies European Tour | -14 (6 strokes) |
2011 KB Star Championship | LPGA of Korea Tour | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
2013 LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship | LPGA Korea/LPGA Tour | -9 (playoff) |
2015 Honda LPGA Thailand | LPGA Tour | -15 (2 strokes) |
2017 Honda LPGA Thailand | LPGA Tour | -22 (5 strokes) |
2019 Honda LPGA Thailand | LPGA Tour | -22 (1 stroke) |
2023 CME Group Tour Championship | LPGA Tour | -27 (3 strokes) |
2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship | Major | -7 (3 strokes) |
* won tournament whilst an amateur
Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover weekend news and social media, as well as help look after Golf Monthly’s many buyers’ guides and equipment reviews.
Taking up the game when he was just seven years of age, Matt made it into his county squad just a year later and continues to play the game at a high standard, with a handicap of around 2-4. To date, his best round came in 2016, where he shot a six-under-par 66 having been seven-under through nine holes. He currently plays at Witney Lakes in Oxfordshire and his favourite player is Rory McIlroy, despite nearly being struck by his second shot at the 17th during the 2015 BMW PGA Championship.
Matt’s current What’s In The Bag?
Driver: Honma TW747, 8.75°
Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Rocketballz Stage 2, 15°, 19°
Hybrid: Adams Super Hybrid, 22°
Irons: Mizuno MP54, 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 Tour Satin, 50°, 56°, 60°
Putter: Cleveland TFI 2135 Satin Cero
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
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