Karen Stupples

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

Early life and amateur career In 1973, 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. She played for England Juniors from 1989 to 1991 and England Seniors from 1995 to 1998. She also represented Great Britain & Ireland on the Curtis Cup winning team in 1996 at home in Killarney, Ireland and losing 1998 team away in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Stupples was going to study polymer science in the UK before deciding to go to university in the United States. 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. As a Seminole, she won two events (Spring 1994 Spalding/Peggy Kirk Bell and Spring 1995 Lady Gator), was selected as All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 1994 and 1995, and was also named a 1995 Second-Team All-American.

Professional career Stupples turned professional following the 1998 U.S. Women's Amateur.

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 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 where she earned non-exempt status on the LPGA Tour by tying for 52nd at the 1998 Final Qualifying Tournament. She had not joined the LET when joining the LPGA as she could not at the time afford the joining fee of £600. 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). She became only the third English player to win a major after Laura Davies and Alison Nicholas. and was the first home winner since Penny Grice-Whittaker in 1991. and she attended a reception at Buckingham Palace where she met The Duke of York.

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

At the 2014 Women's British Open, Stupples announced her retirement from professional golf.

Broadcasting career Stupples has been working with the Golf Channel since 2013 and she currently provides regular commentary during LPGA women's golf broadcasts.

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

Professional wins (3) LPGA Tour wins (2) LegendLPGA Tour major championships (1)Other LPGA Tour (1) Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour. Sources:

Ladies European Tour wins (2) 2004 Women's British Open2 2009 S4/C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe 2 Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour

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

Results timeline Results not in chronological order. Tournament 2000 Kraft Nabisco ChampionshipLPGA ChampionshipCUTU.S. Women's Opendu Maurier Classic ^ 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.

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

Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 24 (2002 LPGA – 2008 British) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

LPGA Tour career summary

Team appearances Amateur European Ladies' Team Championship (representing England): 1995, 1997 Curtis Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1996 (winners), 1998 Vagliano Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1997

Professional Lexus Cup (representing International team): 2005 (winners), 2008 (winners) Solheim Cup (representing Europe): 2005, 2011 (winners) World Cup (representing England): 2005

Solheim Cup record Year Totalmatches TotalW–L–H SinglesW–L–H FoursomesW–L–H FourballsW–L–H Pointswon Points%Career51–4–01–1–00–2–00–1–0120%200520–2–00–1–0 lost to M. Mallon 3&1–0–1–0 lost w/S. Gustafson 2&100%201131–2–01–0–0 def. C. Kerr 10&810–2–0 lost w/M. Reid 1 dnlost w/C. Boeljon 3&2–133.3% 1 Kerr conceded the match at its start, because of injury. Following Solheim Cup rules, this is recorded as a 10 and 8 win for Stupples.