Over the next several weeks LPGA.com will take a look back at Epson Tour players landing inside the top-10. This edition of the 'Meet the Epson Tour Grads" features P.K. Kongkraphan. She had six top-10 finishes including career best first place finishes at the Northeast Delta Dental International. She finished ranked No. 1 in the Volvik Race for the Card and earned LPGA status for the 2014 season.

Kongkraphan Has a Breakthrough Year

P.K. Kongkraphan started playing golf at the early age of five and credits her dad with getting her interested in the game.

“My dad is a good golfer and he taught me how to play and I love it,” stated Kongkraphan.

Kongkraphan turned pro in 2011 and played on the China Ladies Professional Golf Association (CLPGA) where she earned four wins. She qualified for the LPGA Tour during the Final Qualifying Tournament that year and finished tied for 29^th earning her Priority List Category 16 for 2012 LPGA season.

When asked what influenced her decision to turn pro and make golf her career, she said it was simple, “I just want to play on the LPGA Tour and make top-20 in world ranking.”

In 2012 on the LPGA she competed in three events with her best finish coming at the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic Presented by Kroger, Owens Corning and O-I, a tie for 45^th. Kongkraphan also competed in nine Epson Tour events that season with her career best finish a tie for 12^th coming at the Epson Classic in Charlotte, N.C.

The 2013 Epson Tour season proved to be a break out year for Kongkraphan. In 14 starts she made 13 cuts, with 6 top-10 finishes and her first win on the Epson Tour at the Northeast Delta Dental International. This outstanding season landed her at the top of the money list and earned her top honors as the Epson Player of the Year.

With the 2013 Epson Tour season in the books, Kongkraphan will be spending a great deal of time working on her physical strength getting ready for next season on the LPGA Tour, but it won’t be all work and no play for the Thailand native. Kongkraphan bought a guitar in Syracuse after her first win on the Epson Tour earlier this season. She's the lead singer of a rock band back home in Thailand and strumming the instrument and singing, she said, helps her relax.

Meet Epson Tour Grad P.K. Kongkraphan

Related Articles