Candie Kung

Candie Kung was born on August 8, 1981 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She is now based in Rowland, Heights, California and plays on the LPGA tour. Born Candie I-Ping Kung, the Taiwanese player turned pro in 2001. She was a first team Rolex Junior All-American in 1997 and was named to the West Canon Cup Team that same year. She was also the 1998 CIF Champion, as well as an AJGA first-team All-American. Kung won three tournaments in 1998: the Independent Insurance AJC, the Doral Publix and the Women’s Western Junior.

Awards in 1999 include the 1999 AJGA Girls Player of the Year along with an AJGA Polo Golf Junior American. This was a good year for the female golfer. She won five tournaments in 1999, among them the MCI Junior Heritage and the Hargray Junior Classic as well as the Taylor Made Woodlands tournament.

In 2001, she played in the US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship and was a two-time NCAA All-American during her college days at the University of Southern California. After turning pro in August 2001, Kung initially played in the second-tier Futures Tour. In the same year she won the SBC Futures Championship and then secured a place for the main tour in 2002 by placing 15th on the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. She finished the season at 36th on the money list.

In 2003, Kung won three LPGA events, the Takefuji Classic, the Wachovia LPGA Classic and the State Farm Classic. She steadily advanced on the money list to finally land at 6th place. Her performance suffered minor setbacks in 2004 and she descended to the 17th place in the rankings. However, Kung managed to regain some ground in 2005, tying for 11th place before the year ended. As of 2006, Kung is ranked at 26th place on the money list.