Karine Icher | |
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Karine Icher at the 2009 Women's British Open
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Personal information | |
Born |
Châteauroux, France |
26 January 1979
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
Nationality | France |
Residence | France |
Career | |
Turned professional | 2000 |
Current tour(s) |
LPGA Tour (joined 2003) Ladies European Tour (joined 2001) |
Professional wins | 5 |
Number of wins by tour | |
Ladies European Tour | 5 |
Best results in LPGA major championships |
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ANA Inspiration | 10th: 2017 |
Women's PGA C'ship | T13: 2015 |
U.S. Women's Open | T6: 2005 |
Women's British Open | T10: 2006 |
Evian Championship | T20: 2015 |
Karine Icher (born 26 January 1979) is a French professional golfer who plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and is also a member of the Ladies European Tour.
Icher was born in Châteauroux, Indre. She had a successful amateur career and was twice Junior Champion of France winning the Girls 15-16 age group in 1994 and the 17-18 age group in 1996. In 1997 she was a member of the victorious European team in the Vagliano Trophy and won the International Amateur Open of Spain whilst in 1998 she won the French Amateur Cup. In 1999 she was in the European Team which retained the Vagliano Trophy, was part of the victorious French team at the European Team Championship, defended the French Amateur Cup and won the International Amateur Open of Germany.
In 2000, she won the International Amateur Open of France and was a member of the winning French team at the 2000 Espirito Santo Trophy Women's World Amateur Team Championship finishing fourth in the individual competition. She turned professional on 1 September 2000 and finished first at the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School to earn exempt status for the 2001 season.
In her 2001 LET rookie season Icher won two tournaments, the Palmerston Ladies German Open and the Mexx Sport Open and finished the year third on the Order of Merit and second behind Suzann Pettersen for the LET Rookie of the Year title. In 2002, she won the Caja Duero Open de Espana, tied for seventh at the Evian Masters and was qualified in third place for the European 2002 Solheim Cup team. She earned non-exempt status for the 2003 LPGA season having tied for 38th at the 2002 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament but chose to continue full-time on the Ladies European Tour. She retained her non-exempt status at the 2003 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by finishing tied sixty-fifth.
Icher played full-time on the Ladies European Tour in 2004, ending with five top ten finishes including a win at the Catalonia Ladies Masters. She retained her non-exempt status at the 2004 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by finishing tied fifty-fifth and elected to play her rookie season on the LPGA beginning the year with conditional playing privileges. A second-place finish at the Corona Morelia Championship in Mexico meant that after the re-rank she earned her full LPGA card for 2005. She finished 30th on the money list in her rookie season. She returned to the Ladies European Tour to play in the Catalonia Ladies Masters which she successfully defended. She started the 2006 season by pairing with Gwladys Nocera to represent France at the Women's World Cup of Golf.