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Cristie Kerr was born October 12, 1977 in Miami, Florida and exactly 30 years later became the 2007 U.S. Women's Open Champion. To date, Cristie Kerr has recorded 10 LPGA Tour victories and the previously mentioned LPGA Major Championship at the 2007 U.S. Women's Open.
Cristie was a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup team in 1996 and has been a member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team 4 times in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007.
Cristie Kerr took up golf at age eight, and by age 12 she was a 2-handicap. She won the Florida State Junior Girls Championship from 1993-95, and was the American Junior Golf Association player of the year in 1995 following a season in which she won the Women's Western Amateur, the Florida State Women's Championship, and at age 18 decided to forego college and turn pro.
After obtaining her LPGA Tour Card twice, Cristie Kerr finally found some success in 1998 with a top ten finish and finally earned enough to keep her tour card. In 1999, she hired a nutritionist and a strength and fitness coach, and undertook an aggressive training regimen. Back problems caused by her early weight issues disappeared, her swing improved greatly and she gained extra yards through better flexibility.
Cristie Kerr's improvement showed because in 2000 she moved up to No. 15 on the money list, her first victory came in 2002 in wire-to-wire fashion, and she made her first Solheim Cup appearance. Still steadily improving, in 2004 Cristie won three times along with two runner-up finishes. Cristie Kerr won twice more in 2005 with six Top 3 finishes, added another three victories in 2006, and Cristie broke through for her first major championship victory, holding steady down the stretch to win the 2007 U.S. Women's Open by two strokes.
In 2003, Cristie's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she became a spokesperson for Evelyn Lauder's Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Cristie Kerr also started the Birdies for Breast Cancer project to raise money for Breast Cancer research.
