Who Is Malia Nam? LPGA Tour Pro’s Life Explored

Malia Nam is a successful young player who is making a name for herself in the golf world. Nam, born and raised in Kailua, Hawaii, is a 24-year-old young achiever and has attained quite a few accolades as an amateur. After her illustrious achievements as a non-professional golfer, she is now ready to make rounds on the LPGA Tour and make herself seen in the competitive golf realm.

The young golfer is currently playing at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club, and after the conclusion of the first round, sat proudly at T2 having shot 6 under.

How did Malia Nam get introduced to golf?

Malia Nam’s golf journey started when she was just six years old. Her mother, Nellie Nam, was a member of the Mid-Pacific Country Club. She gifted her daughter a few clubs from the Country Club’s storage and enrolled her in a golf program. Nelly Nam is a single mother, and she raised her daughter in Hawaii with limited access to golfing opportunities. As a result of her support and Nam’s passion for the sport, she soon picked up the rhythm.

Her inspirational journey started with an impressive junior golf career that earned her three OIA Golf Championships and a place in the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur while she was a student at Kaiser High School in Kailua, Hawaii.

Malia Nam’s achievements during high school, freshman and sophomore year

As a high schooler, in 2015, Nam stood 14th at the Junior World Golf Championship. She also shared a tied seventh spot at the U.S. Girl’s Junior and shot a round of 32 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. In 2016, Nam was a semifinalist at the North & South and ended up 11th at the Junior PGA Championship, followed by a T9 finish at the Canadian Women’s Amateur where shot a round of 64.

Furthermore, in the years 2016 and 2017, this young achiever finished in the first position at King Auto State and successfully qualified for the IMG Junior World and also the Junior PGA. She finished in second place in the ANNIKA Intercollegiate in 2018. She shot 12-under 204, which is tied for the fifth-most under-par performance in a 54-hole event in school history.

The golfer is one of the six prodigies to post a 204 or lower. She also was second at the Silverado Showdown in 2019 during her debut collegiate career at the University of Southern California. Nam tied for seventh in USC’s win at the Clover Cup and tied for ninth at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional. She emerged victorious at the NCAA Championships match play match against Arizona’s Yu-Sang Hou. Sadly, in April 2019, she missed qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open.

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The 24-year-old golfer was also named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2019. She represented the Arnold Palmer Cup-Team USA and Team WGCA-All-American again in 2019, becoming the Player of the Year Final Watchlist. In 2021, she ended up in 3rd place in two championships: the Pac-12 Women’s Championship and the Gold Rush. Nam was also awarded the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in the same year.

The young golf player also went through hip surgery to correct the issues causing her trouble on and off the course. She spent eight months in rehabilitation during her treatment, and she came out even stronger. She was ranked at 206 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings for the 2022–23 season. Nam grabbed her LPGA Tour card for the 2024 season after she cleared all three rounds of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament in 2023.  As expected, Nam is right now busy doing wonders in her rookie year.

Nam’s rookie season and sponsorships

So far, Nam has only played in one event, the LPGA Drive-On Championship, and ended up at T57 there. She earned $4,750 from her finish. She is presently competing in the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship and might just win if she continues her stellar game that she displayed on day 1. Additionally, this young woman is now backed up by sponsors like PING, Anew Golf, Titleist, and Footjoy.  

She likes to find solace in outdoor activities when not golfing and her hobbies of surfing and skateboarding are a testament to that. She is quite active on social media and keeps her fans updated about her glorious game scores. Further, Nam has a degree in communication.

Her younger sister Brooke is also a golfer and represented the women’s golf team on the Trojan Athletic Senate as a 2022–23 fifth-year senior.

Nam is truly inspirational to the young kids in Hawaii; her journey so far encourages them to step forward, run behind their dreams, and try until they get successful in what they are doing. 

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