SUN JU AHN

2008 did not start as strongly for Ahn, and several other young players played better than she did for the first half of the season. She did still manage multiple top tens, but rarely contended. But in the second half of the season, she turned things around. She decided to play on the LPGA tour in 2009, and played in the first Qualifying School sectional. She won it, beating players such as Michelle Wie and Stacy Lewis in the process. Shortly after returning to Korea, she finished second at the year's second KLPGA major, then won her first event of 2008 the following week, the Samsung Finance. She lost in a playoff to Ji Yai Shin at the year's third major, the 4th KB Star Tour event. She came really close to winning at the final event she played that season, the St. Four, an event jointly sponsored by the Ladies European Tour. Ahn led most of the week, but Hee Kyung Seo made four straight birdies at the end of the final round to catch and pass Ahn for the title.

Despite that disappointment, it had been another great season on the KLPGA for Ahn. She amassed 14 top tens and a solid record on tour. Now it was time for LPGA Qualifying School and her chance to join her good friends Eun Hee Ji and Ji Yai Shin in America. She played terribly in the first round, however, and eventually had to drop out with an injury. So, she would be returning to Korea for at least one more year.

2009 was another strong season on the KLPGA for Big Mama. She was very consistent, achieving 12 top tens on the year. She won twice and finished third on the money list. She was so consistent that she led the league in scoring average much of the year, despite not winning as often as So Yeon Ryu or Hee Kyung Seo (she eventually finished second behind Seo in that stat).

She also had a good year internationally, the highlight being a 13th place finish at the US Women's Open, her best Major finish to date.

In 2008, Ahn had tried and failed to qualify for the LPGA tour (due to injury). In 2009, she entered JLPGA Q-School instead, successfully earning a tour card for 2010.

It didn't take her long to make a splash on that tour. In her very first event, she carded a five shot victory over a field that included LPGA stars Inbee Park and Jiya Shin, who finished tied for 2nd. Ahn led the money list most of the year, sometimes by a huge margin, and wound up becoming the first Korean to ever win the JLPGA money list.

Her most impressive stretch came in the summer, when she recorded ten straight top five finishes, which included three wins. One of those wins was a dominating 7 shot blowout over Shin. In all, she had 4 wins in 2010, 2 seconds, 2 more thirds and 19 total top tens in 27 starts. In every way, it was a phenomenal rookie campaign.

Ahn came into the 2011 JLPGA season with a target on her back. To her credit, she continued her high level of play without hesitation, racking up four more wins, including her first Major at the Salonpas Cup, to once again lead the JLPGA money list. She had become the first foreigner to ever accomplish that feat twice (even more impressive was that fellow Korean Ji Hee Lee was #2 on the list, the first foreign 1-2 in JLPGA history). Her win at the Sankyo Ladies Open in October was the 100th win by a Korean on that tour, and happened at roughly the same time as Na Yeon Choi achieved the 100th win by an ethnic Korean on the LPGA. She ended the year ranked #6 in the world, the second highest ranking Korean (behind Na Yeon Choi).

Ahn also played four times on the LPGA tour in 2011. She missed the cut at the US Women's Open and Evian Masters, but notched top 20s at the British Women's Open and the Mizuno Classic.

Ahn had another strong season on the JLPGA in 2013, although not quite as good as her first two years (weirdly, she did not play any LPGA events in 2012). Her biggest win came in May, when she captured the Salonpas Cup for her second career JLPGA Major; she beat Inbee Park and Morgan Pressel in a playoff. Among her other highlights: she lost in a playoff to Bo Mee Lee at the Daikin Orchid Ladies in March; she lost a playoff to Shanshan Feng at the Meiji Cup in August; she won her 10th JLPGA event at the Nitori Ladies in August, and followed that up with her third win of the season at the next event, the Golf5 Ladies.

Ahn's three wins and 101 million yen was extremely strong, but not enough for her to win her third straight money list title. She had to settle for fourth. But Mi Jeong Jeon and Bo Mee Lee were first and second, meaning Koreans captured three of the top four spots on the JLPGA money list in 2012!

2013 started as a weaker year for Ahn. She did manage back-to-back wins on the JLPGA in the Fall, however, , and came close to making it three straight. In the end she finished 4th on the money list with around 91 million yen earned, the top Korean during a season where the Japanese players reestablished control on their tour.

Ahn reasserted herself on the JLPGA tour in 2014. She once again led the tour's money list for the third time in her career, winning five events and earning over 153 million yen. With Jiyai Shin and Bo Mee Lee, Koreans held three of the top four spots on the money list for the year. Ahn also was the Captain for the Korea-Japan Team event, which Korea again won in a rout.

Ahn's most notable result off the Japanese tour came at the British Women's Open. She was (seemingly) leading the event after the third round, but then it was noticed she had illegally created a stance for herself in the bunker on the final hole. This cost her two strokes and dropped her behind LPGA star Inbee Park. Ahn struggled in the final round, shooting a 79 to wind up tied for 9th. A disappointment, but it was still her first top ten at a Major.

Ahn had another strong year on the JLPGA in 2015. She finished fourth on the money list and managed two wins with 17 top tens, including two runner-up finishes and six other top fives. She earned 105 million yen for the year.

Her first win of the year came at the Century 21 Ladies Golf Tournament in July, but her most significant win was her second, at the Toto Japan Classic. This is the annual event that is co-sanctioned by the LPGA, and her win there earned her an LPGA card, which she refused. It was her first career LPGA victory.

Ahn did well in her title defense at the Toto in 2016; indeed, she almost repeated as champion, winding up tied for third. She also tied for 46th at the US Women's Open and tied for 30th at the HSBC Champions earlier in the season.

On the JLPGA, Sun Ju had another strong year. She wound up 9th on the money list, notching two wins during the year and achieving five other top fives and four additional top tens. She won about 71 million yen in total.

There was talk that Ahn planned to retire at the end of the 2016 season to start a family, but instead she continued to play in 2017 and 2018, so it seems those rumors were premature. In 2017, she had another decent season, finishing tenth on the money list. She managed just one win, but also had 10 other top tens and earned 71 million yen for the year.

Ahn had another fantastic year on the JLPGA in 2018. Once again, she led the tour money list with about 180 million yen earned. She was second in Player of the Year points and third in scoring average. She had five total wins, although she was not able to collect any Major wins. Her chief rival in the end was her old friend Jiyai Shin. Shin did win the Player of the Year but was not able to top Ahn on the money list, where she finished second.

Ahn focused on the JLPGA in 2019; she did not play at all in Korea. It was a lesser year for her in Japan. She only finished 20th on the money list with a little more than 53 million yen earned. She had no wins, but managed 7 top tens, including a 2nd and a tie for 2nd. She played at the LPGA's Toto Classic, where she wound up tied for 16th.

In 2020, the world was hit with the Covid19 pandemic. All sports leagues, including the LPGA and KLPGA, were massively affected by it; many events were canceled or shifted around the schedule, and fans were forbidden from attending. Ahn played a few events early in 2020 in Korea, but missed all but one cut. She did not play in Japan at all in 2020.

In early 2021, Ahn announced that she was pregnant with twins! She gave birth in the early summer and took most of the rest of the year off for maternity leave. She did return briefly in November, playing two events, but did not do all that well in either.

Sun Ju returned to action full time in 2022. She finished 49th on the money list, earning about 184 million won. She had just two top tens, but her last two finishes of the year were 11th and 7th, showing she was starting to play better again. And indeed, she played her first event on the 2023 season in December at the Singapore Women's Open, where she finished 9th.

She decided to play a full season in Korea in 2023 and skip playing in Japan. She earned 311 million won, 36th on the money list. She had no wins but had two runner up finishes and five total top tens.