Jiyai Shin

Amateur career

In 2005, while she was still in high school, Shin was the only amateur to win a KLPGA event that season when she won the SK Enclean Invitational. She turned professional at the end of the 2005 season.

2006

Returning to the KLPGA as a rookie in 2006, she started her year with a pair of third-place finishes in her first two events and went on to claim three wins on the season.

2007

2007 marked Shin's breakout year. She played 19 events on the KLPGA and won 10 of them, shattering all existing Tour records. She also ventured onto the LPGA Tour for the first time and played three of the four women's major championships. At the U.S. Women's Open she finished sixth. The next month at the Evian Masters, an event on the LPGA Tour and a major on the Ladies European Tour, she finished tied for third. Shin finished 2007 ranked 8th in the world, the highest ranked Korean of all, and the only non-LPGA member who ranked in the top ten.

2008

Opening 2008 at the Women's World Cup of Golf, Shin and number two KLPGA player Eun-Hee Ji succumbed to the Philippines pair of Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin with a score of −16 after 3rd and final day of competition. Philippines scored −18 and received the $240,000 cheque.

Shin then played at the Women's Australian Open where she finished 2nd, losing to Karrie Webb in a playoff.

Shin won the Women's British Open in Berkshire, England for her first LPGA Tour and major win. This made her the first non-member of the LPGA to win a major since Laura Davies won the U.S. Women's Open in 1987. She won the 2008 Mizuno Classic in November, shooting scores of 68, 66 and 67. She was six shots ahead of the next competitor to win at −15 (201), to notch her second LPGA career win. Two weeks later she won the ADT Championship, the culminating event in the season-long LPGA playoff series, and claimed the $1 million prize. She became the first-ever non-LPGA member to win three LPGA tournaments.

2009

Shin's wins in LPGA Tour events in 2008 qualified her for LPGA membership in 2009. She got off to a slow start as an LPGA member, missing her first cut ever in an LPGA tournament at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay. She rebounded and won the third event of the season, the limited field HSBC Women's Champions, scoring 66 in both the third and fourth rounds. She won again in June at the full-field Wegmans LPGA tournament and in September at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. By the first week of November she officially clinched the LPGA Rookie of the Year award.

She had been awarded a Talent Medal of Korea by the President of Korea in 2009.

2010

On 2 May, Shin won the Cyber Agent Ladies on the LPGA of Japan Tour. On 3 May, she became the World Number 1 ranked women's golfer, replacing Lorena Ochoa who finished in sixth place in an LPGA tournament the previous day. She held the position until it was taken over by Ai Miyazato on 21 June 2010 and regained it on 26 July after winning the Evian Masters.

On 19 September, Shin won the MetLife-Korea Economics KLPGA Championship, one of the major championships on the LPGA of Korea Tour. With this victory, Shin qualified for the KLPGA Hall of Fame, although she has to fulfill her career as professional golfer for 10 years before membership can be official. If she continues her professional career, she will be the third Hall of Famer in 2015, after Ok-Hee Ku and Se Ri Pak.

2014

Shin gave up her LPGA membership before the start of the season to be nearer to her family in Korea and played on the LPGA of Japan Tour, winning four times during the 2014 season.

2015

Shin won the Cyber Agent Ladies in early May for the second time in her career. She birdied three of the final five holes on the back nine to win by one stroke over Erika Kikuchi of Japan. This victory is her 10th win on the JLPGA Tour.

Honors and awards

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2015

Personal life

In 2004 at age 16, Shin's mother was killed in a car accident. Her younger brother and sister were seriously injured and spent nearly a year in a hospital. Her mom's death insurance money funded the beginning of her golf career. Shin currently owns a home in Atlanta, Georgia, where she lives with her brother, stepmother, and father.

Endorsements

Shin has endorsement deals with Three Bond Holdings, Jatco, M.U Sports & Ecco

LPGA Tour wins (11)

LPGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

¹ Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
² Co-sanctioned by the LPGA of Japan Tour.
³ Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour and the Ladies European Tour.

Ladies European Tour wins (5)

⁴ Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.
⁵ Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour and the LPGA Tour.
⁶ Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour.
Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in LET.

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (16)

⁷ Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.
Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in JLPGA.

LPGA of Korea Tour wins (21)

Tournaments in bold denotes major tournaments in KLPGA

ALPG Tour wins (2)

⁸ Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour.
⁹ Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" tied
Green background for a win. Yellow background for a top-10 finish

Summary

LPGA Tour career summary

¹ Shin's $24,349 earnings at the 2009 Honda LPGA Thailand were considered unofficial under LPGA rules and are not included in this total.
* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Team appearances

Professional