Karen Stupples

Karen Louise Stupples (born 24 June 1973) is an English professional golfer who played primarily on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and was also a member of the Ladies European Tour.

Karen Stupples
Stupples at the 2009 Women's British Open
Personal information
Full nameKaren Louise Stupples
Born (1973-06-24) 24 June 1973
Dover, Kent, England
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Nationality England
ResidenceOrlando, Florida, U.S.
Career
CollegeArkansas State University
Florida State University
Turned professional1998
Retired2014
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour (joined 1999)
Ladies European Tour (joined 2004)
Professional wins3
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour2
Ladies European Tour2
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 1)
ANA InspirationT5: 2010
Women's PGA C'shipT9: 2002
U.S. Women's OpenT10: 2005
du Maurier ClassicDNP
Women's British OpenWon: 2004
Evian ChampionshipDNP

Amateur career

Stupples was born in Dover, Kent. She started her golfing career as a caddie for her father at Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich to earn pocket money.[1] She played for England Juniors from 1989–1991 and England Seniors from 1995-1998.[2] She also represented Great Britain & Ireland on the Curtis Cup winning team in 1996 at home in Killarney, Ireland[3] and losing 1998 team away in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[4]

Stupples was going to study polymer science in the UK before deciding to go to university in the United States.[5] With the assistance of College Prospects of America, she took a golf scholarship at Arkansas State University before transferring to Florida State University in 1993.[6] As a Seminole, she won two events (Spring 1994 Spalding/Peggy Kirk Bell and Spring 1995 Lady Gator),[7] was selected as All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 1994 and 1995, and was also named a 1995 Second-Team All-American.[8]

Stupples turned professional following the 1998 U.S. Women's Amateur.[9]

Professional career

Despite being a professional, Stupples returned home to England becoming a cloakroom attendant for the Port of Dover and waitressing at a public golf course in Kent[1] as she did not have the money to take a run at LPGA Qualifying School.[10] When a regular restaurant customer offered to sponsor her for three years, she and her husband sold their house, furniture and car and moved to the United States[11] where she earned non-exempt status on the LPGA Tour by tying for 52nd at the 1998 Final Qualifying Tournament.[9]

Stupples made her professional debut in Hawaii[5] and, after a season in which her best finish was a tie for 8th, she returned to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, where she tied for 17th to earn exempt status for the 2000 season. Over the 2000 - 2003 period, she achieved 7 top ten finishes,[9] but her form transformed in 2004.

After finishing second behind Annika Sörenstam at the ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia, Stupples carded the best 72-hole raw score in LPGA Tour history (258) to win her maiden title, the Welch's Fry Championship, by five strokes. This win made her eligible to join the Ladies European Tour and begin earning points for the 2005 Solheim Cup.[12] She had not joined the LET when joining the LPGA as she could not at the time afford the joining fee of £600.[13] She followed this up by winning the Women's British Open at Sunningdale where she became only the second player in history to record a double eagle or albatross at an LPGA major championship (began the final round with an eagle, albatross on the first two holes).[14] She became only the third English player to win a major after Laura Davies and Alison Nicholas.[15] and was the first home winner since Penny Grice-Whittaker in 1991.[14] She crossed the $1 million mark in LPGA career earnings at the U.S. Women's Open and finished in sixth place on the money list.[9]

At the end of 2004, Stupples was made an honorary member of Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club in Deal, the Kent golf club which she first joined as a 15-year-old[16] and she attended a reception at Buckingham Palace where she met The Duke of York.[17]

In 2005, Stupples represented England at the 2005 Women's World Cup of Golf in South Africa alongside Laura Davies,[18] was one of Catrin Nilsmark's five wild card picks making her Solheim Cup debut at Crooked Stick GC, in Carmel, Indiana[19] and was part of the International Team at the Lexus Cup.[20]

Personal life

Stupples is married to Bobby Inman, who served as her caddie, and she gave birth to a son on 21 April 2007.[21]

Professional wins

LPGA Tour wins
Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 14 May 2004 Welch's/Fry's Championship −22 (63-66-66-63=258) 5 strokes Jung Yeon Lee
Grace Park
2 1 Aug 2004 Weetabix Women's British Open −19 (65-70-70-64=269) 5 strokes Rachel Teske

Ladies European Tour wins

Major championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
2004Weetabix Women's British Open−19 (65-70-70-64=269)5 strokes Rachel Teske

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2014.

Tournament2000
Kraft Nabisco Championship
LPGA Championship CUT
U.S. Women's Open
du Maurier Classic
Tournament200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012
Kraft Nabisco Championship T15 T16 T23 T17 12 T5 T29 T75
LPGA Championship T9 T20 T30 T25 T69 T69 CUT CUT T34 54
U.S. Women's Open T37 T41 T32 T10 T20 T31 T52 T39 T15 CUT
Women's British Open ^ CUT T56 T12 1 T11 T10 T42 T24 CUT CUT T22 CUT
Tournament20132014
Kraft Nabisco Championship T55
U.S. Women's Open CUT
Women's British Open ^ CUT CUT
LPGA Championship DQ
The Evian Championship ^^

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.
^^ The Evian Championship became an LPGA major in 2013.

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut.
DQ = disqualified
"T" = tied

LPGA Tour career summary
YearWinsEarnings ($)Money list rankAverage
1999 0 34,826 130 73.16
2000 0 59,113 119 73.53
2001 0 91,027 89 72.66
2002 0 214,760 46 72.41
2003 0 325,774 35 71.68
2004 2 968,852 6 70.65
2005 0 304,385 41 72.44
2006 0 276,188 49 72.16
2007 0 61,613 n/a 72.71
2008 0 726,436 23 71.28
2009 0 144,425 68 72.75
2010 0 221,815 46 72.31
2011 0 397,081 29 71.87
2012 0 116,909 73 73.02
2013 0 32,357 110 73.51
2014 0 2,492 167 75.89
2015 Did not play
2016 0 0 n/a 76.50

Team appearances

Amateur

  • Curtis Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1996 (winners), 1998
  • Vagliano Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1997

Professional

Solheim Cup record
YearTotal MatchesTotal W-L-HSingles W-L-H4somes W-L-H4balls W-L-HPoints WonPoints %
Career 5 1-4-0 1-1-0 0-2-0 0-1-0 1 20%
2005 2 0-2-0 0-1-0 lost to M. Mallon 3&1 0-1-0 lost w/S. Gustafson 2&1 0 0%
2011 3 1-2-0 1-0-0 def. C. Kerr 10&81 0-2-0 lost w/M. Reid 1 dn
lost w/C. Boeljon 3&2		 1 33.3%

1 Kerr conceded the match at its start, because of injury.[22] Following Solheim Cup rules, this is recorded as a 10 and 8 win for Stupples.

References
  1. "The Interview Karen Stupples: Overnight sensation years in the making". The Independent on Sunday. 30 January 2005. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  2. "Karen Stupples Player Profile". LET. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  3. "1996 Curtis Cup Match". USGA. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  4. "Previous Curtis Cup Matches 1932-2002". USGA. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  5. "Up close and personal with Karen Stupples". LET. 10 July 2005. Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  6. "College Prospects of Ameirica UK Clients". College Prospects of Ameirica (UK). Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  7. "Seminole Golfer Westrup Named National Women's Golfer Of The Week". Florida State University Athletics. 29 March 2006. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  8. "Debbie Dillman Profile". Florida State University Athletics. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  9. "LPGA Full Career Biography" (PDF). LPGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  10. "Karen Stupples goes from waitress to LPGA star". Golf Today. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  11. "Morgan makes Solheim claim - Stupples stymied". LET. 5 August 2003. Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  12. "Stupples breaks new ground in America". LET. 15 March 2004. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  13. "Karen Stupples joins the LET". LET. 29 March 2004. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  14. "Super Stupples storms in at Sunningdale". LET. 1 August 2004. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  15. "Stupples Learned from watching Annika". LPGA. 2004. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  16. "Kent golfers honour Karen Stupples". ELGA. 21 December 2004. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  17. "Sit Down with Stupples". LPGA. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  18. "Women's World Cup of Golf: Twenty teams confirmed". LET. 17 December 2004. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  19. "The 2005 European Solheim Cup team announced". LET. 28 August 2005. Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  20. "Internationals win The Lexus Cup". LET. 12 December 2005. Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  21. "New Arrival for Stupples". LET Ladies European Tour. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  22. "Rosie Jones defends Cristie Kerr choice". ESPN. Associated Press. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
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