Momoko Ueda

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 Japan LPGA Tour (JLPGA) to finish first on the money list.[1] She is currently playing on the United States-based LPGA Tour.

Momoko Ueda 上田 桃子
Ueda before 2009 Women's British Open
Personal information
Born	(1986-06-15) 15 June 1986 Kumamoto, Japan
Height	5 ft 3.5 in (1.61 m)
Nationality	Japan
Residence	Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
Career
College	none
Turned professional	2005
Current tour(s)	LPGA of Japan Tour (joined 2005)
Former tour(s)	LPGA Tour (2008–13)
Professional wins	15
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	2
LPGA of Japan Tour	15
Best results in LPGA major championships
ANA Inspiration	T27: 2010
Women's PGA C'ship	T25: 2008
U.S. Women's Open	T13: 2008
Women's British Open	T7: 2008
Evian Championship	T27: 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

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 (15)

JLPGA Tour (15)

• 2007 (5) Life Card Ladies, Resort Trust Ladies, Stanley Ladies, Mizuno Classic (co-sanctioned with LPGA), Daio Paper Elleair Open
• 2008 (2) Suntory Ladies Open, Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Women's Open
• 2009 (1) AXA Ladies Open
• 2011 (1) Mizuno Classic (co-sanctioned with LPGA)
• 2014 (2) CAT Ladies, Hisako Higuchi – Morinaga Ladies
• 2017 (2) Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies Open, Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies
• 2019 (2) T-Point ENEOS Golf Tournament, Yonex Ladies Golf Tournament

LPGA Tour (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	4 Nov 2007	Mizuno Classic	−13 (70-67-66=203)	2 strokes	Maria Hjorth Reilley Rankin
2	6 Nov 2011	Mizuno Classic	−16 (67-64-69=200)	Playoff	Shanshan Feng

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2011	Mizuno Classic	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
Kraft Nabisco Championship	T47	T30	T27	T33	T66	T41
LPGA Championship	T25	T57	CUT	T30	CUT	CUT
U.S. Women's Open	T13	T40	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
Women's British Open	T7	T55	T9	T22	CUT	CUT			CUT			T51
The Evian Championship ^						T27

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

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"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

• Official as of the 2013 season

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
Total	688,936,800	13

Team appearances

Professional

• World Cup (representing Japan): 2007
• The Queens (representing Japan): 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners)

References

1. "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

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Momoko Ueda at the LPGA Tour official site
• Momoko Ueda at the LPGA of Japan Tour official site (in Japanese)
• Momoko Ueda at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site