Karine Icher
Karine Icher at the 2009 Women's British Open
Personal information
Born (1979-01-26) 26 January 1979
Châteauroux, France
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Sporting nationality France
ResidenceFrance
SpouseFred Bonnargent (m. 2006)
Career
Turned professional2000
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour (joined 2003)
Ladies European Tour (joined 2001)
Professional wins5
Number of wins by tour
Ladies European Tour5
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron Championship10th: 2017
Women's PGA C'shipT13: 2015
U.S. Women's OpenT6: 2005
Women's British OpenT10: 2006
Evian ChampionshipT20: 2015

Karine Icher (born 26 January 1979) is a French professional golfer who formerly played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour.

Early years

Icher was born in Châteauroux, Indre. She started playing golf at the age of 10. She reached early success and was twice Junior Champion of France winning the Girls 15-16 age group in 1994 and the 17-18 age group in 1996.

Amateur career

In 1997 she was a member of the victorious European team in the Vagliano Trophy and won the Spanish International Ladies Amateur Championship 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 French International Lady Juniors Amateur Championship[1] and was a member of the winning French team at the 2000 Espirito Santo Trophy, finishing fourth in the individual competition.[2] 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.[3]

Professional career

In her 2001 LET rookie season Icher won two tournaments, the Palmerston Ladies German Open[4] and the Mexx Sport Open in the Netherlands.[5] At the Compaq Open in August 2001 at Österåker Golf Club outside Stockholm, Sweden, Icher was leading by six strokes after 36 holes and three strokes after 54 holes. However, on the 11th hole during the final round, Icher was penalised one stroke due to slow play and continued to four-putt the hole. Raquel Carriedo finally won by a stroke and continued the 2001 season winning the LET Order of Merit. Icher finished the year third on the Order of Merit and second behind Suzann Pettersen for the LET Rookie of the Year title.[3][6][7]

The year after, Icher got revenge on Carriedo, beating her by a single stroke winning the 2002 Caja Duero Open de Espana,[8] In 2002 she also tied for seventh at the Evian Masters[9] and was qualified in third place for the European 2002 Solheim Cup team, playing against United States at Interlachen Country Club, Minnesota, U.S.A.[10] In the second day fourball Icher came to be paired with her opponent from Caja Duero Open de Espana and the Compaq Open the year before, Raguel Carriedo. The pair won their game against Cristie Kerr and Rosie Jones, but Europe lost the match 151⁄2 to 121⁄2.[11][12]

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.[9]

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.[13] 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.[9] She returned to the Ladies European Tour to play in the Catalonia Ladies Masters which she successfully defended.[5] She started the 2006 season by pairing with Gwladys Nocera to represent France at the Women's World Cup of Golf.[14]

Icher competed full time on the LPGA Tour until 2019. Without having a victory, she reached 45 career top-10s including finishing second four times, most recent twice in 2016.

Personal life

Icher gave birth to a daughter in July 2011[15] and did not play in the Solheim Cup in September 2011, but came back to the event two years later.[16]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (5)

Ladies European Tour (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 2001 Palmerston Ladies German Open 71-69-70=210 −6 1 stroke Norway Suzann Pettersen
2 2001 Mexx Sport Open 70-70-72=212 −4 Playoff[lower-alpha 1] Norway Suzann Pettersen
3 2002 Caja Duero Open de Espana 69-69-68=277 −11 1 stroke Spain Raquel Carriedo
4 2004 Catalonia Ladies Masters 62-66-62=190 −17 9 strokes France Stéphanie Arricau
Spain Paula Marti
5 2005 Catalonia Ladies Masters 70-69-68=207 −12 1 stroke France Gwladys Nocera
Spain Paula Marti
  1. ↑ Icher won with a birdie at the third playoff hole.

Ladies European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2001 Mexx Sport Open Norway Suzann Pettersen Icher won with birdie at the third playoff hole

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order before 2019.

Tournament200120022003200420052006200720082009
ANA Inspiration T51 T24 T53 CUT
U.S. Women's Open CUT CUT CUT T6 T55 T66 T67
Women's PGA Championship CUT CUT CUT T46 74
Women's British Open T60 CUT CUT CUT T10 T16 CUT CUT
Tournament2010201120122013201420152016201720182019
ANA Inspiration T56 T41 T35 T19 T46 T11 T32 10 CUT
U.S. Women's Open CUT T20 T22 T56 CUT CUT CUT CUT
Women's PGA Championship CUT T45 CUT CUT T13 CUT T29 CUT T74
Women's British Open T27 T33 T22 T45 CUT T25 T23 CUT
The Evian Championship ^ CUT T27 T20 T30 T70

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
ANA Inspiration0000141311
U.S. Women's Open000013157
Women's PGA Championship000001146
The Evian Championship00000154
Women's British Open000015169
Totals00003146337
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2010 British Open – 2013 Kraft Nabisco)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

YearTotal
matches		Total
W–L–H		Singles
W–L–H		Foursomes
W–L–H		Fourballs
W–L–H		Points
won		Points
%
Career 14 7–5–2 1–1–2 3–2–0 3–2–0 8 57.1
2002 3 1–2–0 0–1–0 lost to R. Jones 3&2 0–0–0 1–1–0 lost w/ S. Gustafson 4&3
won w/ R. Carriedo-Tomas 1 up		 1 33.3
2013 4 2–1–1 0–0–1 halved with C. Kerr 1–1–0 won w/ A. Muñoz 2&1
lost w/ A. Muñoz 1 dn		 1–0–0 won w/ B. Recari 2 up 2.5 62.5
2015 3 2–1–0 1–0–0 def. B. Lincicome 3&2 0–1–0 lost w/ A. Muñoz 2&1 1–0–0 won w/ C. Matthew 2&1 2 66.7
2017 4 2–1–1 0–0–1 halved with A. Yin 2–0–0 won w/ C. Matthew 1 up
won w/ C. Matthew 2&1		 0–1–0 lost w/ M. Sagström 2&1 2.5 62.5

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Titles". Karine Icher official website. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  2. ↑ "France Claims Women's World Amateur Team Championship By 7 Strokes". International Golf Federation. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  3. 1 2 "Karine Icher Player Profile". LET. Archived from the original on 2007-08-14. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  4. ↑ Saunders, Steve (2001-08-20). "Icher survives pressure packed day". London: The Independent. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  5. 1 2 "Icher successfully defends in Catalonia". LET. 2005-09-24. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  6. ↑ Nilsmark, Fredrik (September 2001). "Compaq Open, Regnet blandades med tårar" [Compaq Open, The rain was mixed with tears]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 9/2001. pp. 148–154. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  7. ↑ "Ladies European Tour Moneylist 2001 season". Ladies European Tour. 2001. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "Icher survives pressure packed day". LET. 2002-06-02. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  9. 1 2 3 "Karine Icher Full Career Bio" (PDF). LPGA. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  10. ↑ "A Glimpse at the European Solheim Cup Team". The Golf Channel. September 17, 2002. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Reid chooses wild cards amid controversy". LET. 2002-08-25. Archived from the original on 2006-10-25. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  12. ↑ "Solheim Cup Player Profile: Karine Icher". LET. 2002-09-04. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  13. ↑ "Icher fires another 62 to win in Catalonia". LET. 2004-10-03. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  14. ↑ "LET season starts with Women's World Cup of Golf 2006". LET. 2006-01-18. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  15. ↑ Kingsmill Championship, Kingsmill Championship Interview Transcript September 9, 2012 September 9, 2012. Accessed April 7, 2013.
  16. ↑ Ladies European Tour, Karine Icher expecting a girl Archived 2011-12-09 at the Wayback Machine 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  17. ↑ "Swedes take advantage of Moffat's costly miss". The Herald. 15 July 1996.
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