Meet LPGA’s Jin Hee Im: The 25-Year-Old South Korean Star’s Career Explored

The young supernova from South Korea, Jin Hee Im, is taking over the golfing world by storm. At the age of 25, she made her debut on the LPGA Tour in 2024 and soon established herself. Jin Hee Im qualified for the LPGA in December 2023 after completing the challenging Q-Series, and she has since made a name for herself by competing in major tournaments and playing against top-tier opponents.

As of April 20, she can be seen in the Chevron Championship, where, after the first two rounds, she was one stroke ahead of world number one Nelly Korda, who is hoping for an LPGA record-tying fifth straight win. She shot consecutive 67s to tie for the 36-hole lead with Thai sensation Atthaya Thitikul, at 8-under par at the first major of the year and her first-ever major competition.

How was Im’s time in Korea as a golfer?

Jin Hee Im, a native of Guri, South Korea, learned the game at an early age and became proficient as a junior player. She became a professional in 2016 and started playing on the Korean LPGA (KLPGA) Tour after receiving a golf scholarship to attend college in her native country. Despite not winning KLPGA Rookie of the Year, Im continued to get better throughout the following seasons.

Her first KLPGA win ever was the BC Card Hankyung Ladies Open in 2021. In 133 career KLPGA starts, she made 107 cuts, earned 29 top-10 finishes, and won six times including four in her breakout 2023 season. These include her latest win at the SK Telecom Championship in 2023. This season got her to her highest KLPGA rank of 5!

Im’s outstanding 2023 on the KLPGA helped her advance to the LPGA Q-Series in December of last year, where she earned her Tour card with a strong T17 performance. After narrowly missing out on LPGA Rookie of the Year in Korea, winning the title on the LPGA Tour in 2024 became a top priority.

Jin Hee Im on the LPGA Tour

The 25-year-old golfer had only made two career starts on the LPGA, a T61 at the 2021 BMW Ladies Championship and a T20 at the 2020 ISPS Handa Vic Open, before 2024. In 2024, she appeared in the LPGA Drive-On Championship, where she failed to make the cut, a T27 in the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, and a T35 in the Ford Championship.

Known for his tee-to-green consistency, Im has shown an outstanding all-around game. She had a great year in ball striking and putting statistics on the KLPGA in 2023, but she acknowledged that she needed to become better at driving farther and making short putts. On the LPGA Tour in 2023, her 243-yard average drive would have placed her just 155th. However, Im seems ready to challenge for the LPGA Tour rookie season, thanks to a strong all-around game and an unshakable work ethic.

Personal life of Jin Hee Im

Im loves to spend time with her family and friends in South Korea. Her parents still live in Guri. Im has stated that adjusting to the LPGA Tour lifestyle, including the English language and American culture, “will take a long time,” exercising patience during the process. As a South Korean on the Tour, she will have many compatriots and fellow Koreans who now live all around the world, making her feel at home even while she is thousands of miles away!

The 2024 LPGA rookie is also known to invest a lot into coaching to improve her game, saying “I invest so much in lessons that people around me say it’s a little too much,”. She had three different coaches take her through her 2023 season. “Ahead of last season, we recruited three coaches to perform well. I am learning swing and putt from different leaders,” she stated in an interview with a Korean news agency.

Not too much is known about her private life apart from these facts. She does not seem to be active on any of the popular social media sites and also has not spoken too much about her life outside of the greens. With a terrific all-around game, laser-like focus, and the assurance that comes from having already competed in the Tour and won on the KLPGA, Jin Hee Im seems primed for fame in 2024.

Would she be able to include the first Major in her list of achievements as well? Only time will tell.