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PEARL SINN-BONANNI |
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The Facts |
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Name: Ji Young Sinn Birthday: July 17, 1967 Rookie Year on LPGA: 1991 Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea American Home City: Huntington Beach, CA Best LPGA Finish: Win Best LPGA Major Finish: T-15th (2001 Weetabix Women's British Open) Height: 5' 3" 2010 LPGA Status: Retired; Category 21 Nicknames: None Known Sponsors: None Known How's her English?: Fluent Road to the LPGA: Played in Europe before the LPGA |
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Galleries |
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2004 |
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2003 and Before |
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Seoul Sisters Pix |
| Capsule Bio |
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Pearl Sinn is the godmother to the Korean players on tour, the oldest and most experienced of all of them. Though born in Korea, she has lived most of her life in America and is an American citizen. But she has taken it upon herself to mentor the young Korean players on tour; she was especially helpful to Se Ri Pak in her rookie season. Pearl had an impressive amateur career, culminating in wins at the 1988 U.S. Women's Amateur and Public Links Championship, two of the top events in amateur golf. She also represented the U.S. at the Curtis Cup that year. Her pro career was not as impressive at first, although she maintained exempt status for several years on the LPGA after turning pro in 1989 and playing for a while in Europe. She did manage to score a few top ten finishes every year, though. Finally, in 1998, Pearl had a breakthrough victory at the State Farm Rail Classic. She had been hanging in there all weekend, just one or two shots out of the lead, and capitalized on mistakes the leaders made to take the lead herself with one hole to go. She then proceeded to sink a marvelous chip shot for the win. This same year she helped mentor Se Ri Pak during her rookie season, and returned to Korea to receive an athletic award from the Korean government. In 1999, she managed a second place in defense of her Rail Classic title (Mi Hyun Kim won), and also won a KLPGA event. Her career declined somewhat after that. Though she still managed a couple top tens in the next few years, she was no longer contending. 2002 was one of her weakest seasons, and she was not able to maintain her exempt status on tour. Meanwhile, she had other things going on. Her good looks got her a modeling gig with Swedish clothing manufacturer J. Lindeberg. Some of the racy images from that campaign appear in the gallery. She served on the LPGA Tour Executive Committee from 2000 - 2002, and, along with Donna Andrews, was a vice-president in 2002. Also in 2002, she married Greg Bonanni and changed her name to Pearl Sinn-Bonanni. In 2003, pregnant with her first child, she only played one event, and also did some commentating for ESPN. She gave birth to Madeline Joy Bonanni on July 30, 2003. She played a very limited schedule thereafter. Pearl Sinn-Bonanni officially retired from professional golf in 2006 to focus on her family and business interests. |