Momoko Ueda
上田 桃子
Ueda before 2009 Women's British Open
Personal information
Born (1986-06-15) 15 June 1986 (age 37)
Kumamoto, Japan
Height5 ft 3.5 in (1.61 m)
Sporting nationality Japan
ResidenceKumamoto Prefecture, Japan
Career
Collegenone
Turned professional2005
Current tour(s)LPGA of Japan Tour (joined 2005)
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour (2008–13)
Professional wins17
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour2
LPGA of Japan Tour17
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipT27: 2010
Women's PGA C'shipT25: 2008
U.S. Women's OpenT13: 2008
Women's British Open6th: 2020
Evian ChampionshipT27: 2013
Achievements and awards
LPGA of Japan Tour
Player of the Year		2007
LPGA of Japan Tour
leading money winner		2007
LPGA of Japan Tour
Rookie of the Year		2007

Momoko Ueda (上田 桃子, Ueda Momoko, born 15 June 1986) is a Japanese female professional golfer who in 2007 at the age of 21 became the youngest player in the history of the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA) to finish first on the money list.[1] She also played on the United States-based LPGA Tour for six years.

Amateur career

Ueda was born in Kumamoto, Japan. She started playing golf at the age of nine, and entered the prestigious Sakata School at ten. In twenty three amateur events, she placed in the top 10 fifteen times, including three wins, and five second-place finishes.[2]

Professional career

Ueda turned pro in August 2005 and won the JLPGA rookies cup that year.[3] In 2006, she placed 4th in two JLPGA events, and tied for 9th in the Mizuno Classic, a joint JLPGA and LPGA event.

2007 was her breakout year on the JLPGA, with five wins, six runners-up, a 3rd and a 5th. Internationally, she represented Japan in the World Cup, and played in the Women's British Open at St Andrews. In April she won the Life Card Ladies at her home town of Kumamoto. She went on to win the Resort Trust Ladies and the Stanley Ladies, and placed 2nd in the Fujitsu Ladies, before winning the Mizuno Classic in November.[4] A highlight of her tournament was a double-eagle during the tournament's final round. She became the tournament's first Japanese winner in nine years and only the 16th non-LPGA member in history to win an LPGA event. Two weeks later at the Elleair Ladies she won her fifth tournament and became the youngest money title winner in the history of the JLPGA tour.[1]

Her win at Mizuno qualified her to play on the LPGA tour in 2008. In her first tournament of the year, the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, she finished fifth.[5]

Ueda again won the Mizuno Classic in 2011. She birdied the 3rd hole of a sudden death playoff to defeat Shanshan Feng.[6]

Professional wins (17)

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (17)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 15 Apr 2007 Life Card Ladies 70-71-70=211 −5 6 strokes Japan Erina Hara
2 3 Jun 2007 Resort Trust Ladies 69-68-68=205 –11 Playoff Japan Yuri Fudoh
3 15 July 2007 Stanley Ladies Golf Tournament 71-35=106 –2 Playoff Japan Chie Arimura
Japan Sakura Yokomine
4 4 Nov 2007 Mizuno Classica 70-67-66=203 –13 2 strokes Sweden Maria Hjorth
United States Reilley Rankin
5 18 Nov 2007 Daio Paper Elleair Ladies Open 66-71-72=209 –7 3 strokes Japan Erina Hara
Japan Yui Kawahara
Japan Shinobu Moromizato
Japan Mikiyo Nishizuka
6 15 Jun 2008 Suntory Ladies Open 70-69-70-72=281 –7 1 stroke South Korea Lim Eun-a
South Korea Song Bo-bae
7 28 Sep 2008 Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Women's Open 70-72-69=211 –5 1 stroke Japan Akane Iijima
Taiwan Julie Lu
Japan Yuko Mitsuka
8 9 Aug 2009 AXA Ladies 68-69-68=205 –11 Playoff Japan Chie Arimura
South Korea Lee Ji-hee
9 6 Nov 2011 Mizuno Classica 67-64-69=200 –16 Playoff China Shanshan Feng
10 24 Aug 2014 CAT Ladies 70-71-69=210 –9 1 stroke Japan Rikako Morita
11 2 Nov 2014 Hisako Higuchi – Morinaga Ladies 68-69-69=206 –10 1 stroke Japan Junko Omote
12 21 May 2017 Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies Open 66-69-65=200 –16 2 strokes Taiwan Teresa Lu
13 22 Oct 2017 Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies 73-65-67=205 –11 2 strokes Japan Asako Fujimoto
Japan Nasa Hataoka
South Korea Jiyai Shin
14 24 Mar 2019 T-Point ENEOS Golf Tournament 69-69-69=207 –6 2 strokes Japan Minami Katsu
South Korea Jiyai Shin
15 9 Jun 2019 Yonex Ladies Golf Tournament 70-68-65=203 –13 6 strokes Japan Yuki Ichinose
South Korea Kim Hyo-joo
Japan Rumi Yoshiba
16 2 May 2021 Panasonic Open Ladies Golf Tournament 70-68-73=202 –5 Playoff Japan Momoko Osato
17 10 Apr 2022 Fujifilm Studio Alice Ladies Open 69-69-69=207 –9 3 strokes Japan Eri Fukuyama
Japan Mone Inami
Japan Seira Oki
Japan Mao Saigo

a Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.

LPGA Tour wins (2)

Legend
Major championships (0)
Other LPGA Tour (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 4 Nov 2007 Mizuno Classica 70-67-66=203 –13 2 strokes Sweden Maria Hjorth
United States Reilley Rankin
2 6 Nov 2011 Mizuno Classica 67-64-69=200 –16 Playoff China Shanshan Feng

a Co-sanctioned by the LPGA of Japan Tour.

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2011 Mizuno Classic China Shanshan Feng Won with birdie on third extra hole

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Chevron Championship T47 T30 T27 T33 T66 T41
Women's PGA Championship T25 T57 CUT T30 CUT CUT
U.S. Women's Open T13 T40 CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT
The Evian Championship ^ T27 NT
Women's British Open T7 T55 T9 T22 CUT CUT CUT T51 6

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied

LPGA Tour career summary

Year Events
played		 Cuts
made		 Wins 2nds 3rds Top
10s		 Best
finish		 Earnings ($) Rank Scoring
average		 Scoring
rank
2006 1 1 0 0 0 1 T9 24,442 n/a 69.67 n/a
2007 4 4 1 0 0 2 1 302,550 n/a 72.07 n/a
2008 19 16 0 0 0 3 5 413,592 45 71.74 23
2009 18 15 0 1 0 2 T2 416,333 33 71.68 28
2010 9 7 0 0 0 1 T6 114,509 45 71.81 31
2011 16 13 1 0 0 1 1 333,494 34 72.19 31
2012 19 14 0 0 0 0 T12 210,197 58 71.85 33
2013 17 12 0 0 0 0 T27 83,283 88 72.66 76

JLPGA prize money

Year Earnings (¥) Rank
2005 0 –
2006 46,751,163 13
2007 166,112,232 1
2008 54,617,651 17
2009 42,380,260 21
2010 21,771,999 39
2011 35,710,800 22
2012 6,383,200 80
2013 19,256,000 48
2014 74,315,585 10
2015 88,731,118 7
2016 31,085,815 35
2017 101,820,977 6
2018 49,337,685 21
2019 81,089,991 9
2020–21* 57,140,302 13
Total* 876,504,778 9

* As of 13 June 2021

Team appearances

Professional

References

  1. ^ a b "Ueda's fifth victory clinches money title". The Japan Times. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  2. ^ "Momoko Ueda" (PDF). LPGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  3. ^ "Momoko Ueda". Egg Times. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  4. ^ "Ueda shoots 66 for 2-stroke victory in Mizuno Classic". ESPN. Associated Press. 4 November 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  5. ^ "Sorenstam wins 70th LPGA Tour title, ends long winless streak". CBS Sports. Associated Press. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  6. ^ Momoko Ueda wins Mizuno in playoff

External links

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