Shin Ji-yai Wins Young Talent Award
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Shin Ji-yai, a 21-year-old professional golfer, won a Korea Young Talent Award, in recognition of her outstanding performance on the world golf scene, Wednesday.
The golf rookie added another title to her long list of trophies, including the LPGA Rookie of the Year award clinched last year.
The Korea Young Talent Award, hosted by the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science & Creativity, goes to 40 university students and 60 high school students who became distinguished in certain fields through effort, challenging spirits and creativity.
Shin, born to a pastor in a small church in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province in 1988, started playing golf as a fifth grader in the year Pak Se-ri created a golf boom that swept the country.
In 2004, she lost her mother in a car accident, leaving her younger brother and sister with severe injuries. Shin had to take care of her hospitalized siblings for almost a year. The insurance money helped fund the beginning of Shin’s golf career.
Shin won three titles in her professional domestic debut in 2006 and broke all national tour records in 2007 by winning 10 tournaments on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA).
She achieved a grand slam by winning all three of the KLPGA's major tournaments in 2008. Stepping out as an international player, she also became the youngest winner of the Women's British Open, one of the major tournaments in Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), as a guest player.
Last year, Shin officially joined LPGA membership and won three tournaments. She claims second place in the LPGA rankings. Shin is currently a sophomore at the Department of Physical Education at Yonsei University.