10 Best Female Golfers of All Time
10 Best Female Golfers
Golf is a club ball sport in which competing golfers hit balls into a series of holes on a course using fewest strokes possible while using various clubs or golf sticks. Apocryphally, a golf like game, is recorded on 26 February 1297 in Loenenaan de Vecht where the Dutch played a game with a leather ball and a stick. The history of golf is carefully preserved in various golf museums, and the most famous of them is the British Golf Museum in the town of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The earliest account of female golfer is recorded when Queen of Scotland Mary traveled to France to play golf in 1552. The first known account of modern golf was traced in 1867 when the first ladies’ golf club The Ladies Club of St. Andrew’s, Scotland, is formed. Helen Hicks became the first woman golfer to turn professional in 1934 while promoting products for Wilson-Western Sporting Goods Company. Patty Berg wins the first Titleholders Championship in 1937 and from that time female golfers achieved a great height of success as the men golfers do. So here is the list of 10 best female golfers of all time.
10 Best Female Golfers of All Time
1. Mickey Wright
Former American female professional golfer Mickey Wright became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1955. She was ranked as the top woman golfer and the ninth greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine in 2000. Mickey achieved the title of LPGA Tour 82 times which is the second highest of all time. She won the LPGA Vare Trophy consecutive five times from 1960 to 1964 and became the LPGA Tour Leading Money Winner consecutive four times from 1961 to 1964. She won 13 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Western Open three times, Titleholders Championship two times, LPGA Championship four times and U.S. Women’s Open four times. Mickey was named Female Athlete of the Year twice consecutively in 1963-64 by the Associated Press. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1964.
2. Annika Sörenstam
Retired Swedish female professional golfer Annika Sörenstam is widely considered as one of the most successful female golfers in history. She won 90 international tournaments and became the female golfer with the most wins. Annika achieved the title of LPGA Tour 72 times which is the third highest of all time and also won the Ladies European Tour 17 times. She obtained the LPGA Vare Trophy six times, became the LPGA Tour leading Money Winner eight times and was named LPGA Tour Player of the Year eight times. She won 10 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Kraft Nabisco C’ship three times, LPGA Championship three times, U.S. Women’s Open three times and the Women’s British Open in 2003. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.
3. Kathy Whitworth
Former American female professional golfer Kathy Whitworth became the first woman to reach career earnings of $1 million on the LPGA Tour in 1981. Kathy achieved the title of LPGA Tour 88 times which is the highest of all time in golf history. She won the LPGA Vare Trophy seven times in two spells from 1965 to 1972 and became the LPGA Tour Leading Money Winner eight times from 1965 to 1973. She won 6 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Western Open in 1967, Titleholders C’ship two times, LPGA Championship three times and became runners up in U.S. Women’s Open in 1971. Kathy was named Female Athlete of the Year twice consecutively in 1965-66 by the Associated Press. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975.
4. Patty Berg
Former American female professional golfer Patty Berg was the founding member and then a leading player on the LPGA Tour during the 1940s till 1960s. Patty achieved the title of LPGA Tour 60 times which is the fourth highest of all time in golf history. She won the LPGA Vare Trophy three times and became the LPGA Tour Leading Money Winner three times from 1954 to 1957. She won a still unbeaten 15 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Western Open seven times from 1941 to 1958, Titleholders C’ship seven times from 1937 to 1957, became the runners up in LPGA Championship two times and became the winner in U.S. Women’s Open in 1946. Patty was named Female Athlete of the Year three times in 1938, 1943 and 1955 by the Associated Press. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1951.
5. Louise Suggs
Retired American female professional golfer Louise Suggs was the founding member of the LPGA Tour and was one of the pioneers of modern ladies’ golf. Louise achieved the title of LPGA Tour 61 times which is the fourth highest of all time in golf history. She won the LPGA Vare Trophy in 1957 and became the LPGA Tour Leading Money Winner two times in 1953 and 1960. She won 11 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Western Open four times from 1946 to 1953, Titleholders C’ship four times from 1946 to 1953, The LPGA Championship in 1957 and became the winner in U.S. Women’s Open in 1949 and 1952. Louise obtained the Bob Jones Award by the United States Golf Association in 2007. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1951.
6. Betsy Rawls
Former American female professional golfer Betsy Rawls was a leading female golfer during 1950s. Betsy achieved the title of LPGA Tour 55 times which is the sixth highest of all time in golf history. She won the LPGA Vare Trophy in 1959 and became the LPGA Tour Leading Money Winner two times in 1952 and 1959. She won 8 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Western Open two times in 1952 and 1959, Titleholders C’ship runners up three times from 1952 to 1959, The LPGA Championship in 1959 and 1969 and became the winner of U.S. Women’s Open four times from 1951 and 1960. Betsy won the Bob Jones Award by the United States Golf Association in 1996. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1960. Betsy also received the LPGA 50th Anniversary Commissioner’s Award in 2000.
7. Babe Zaharias
Former American female professional golfer “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias achieved the most success in golf, basketball, and track and field. Babe obtained the title of LPGA Tour 41 times which is the tenth highest of all time in golf history. She won the LPGA Vare Trophy in 1954 and became the LPGA Tour Leading Money Winner two times in 1950 and 1951. She won 10 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Western Open four times, Titleholders C’ship three times and became the winner of U.S. Women’s Open three times from 1948 and 1954. Babe received the Bob Jones Award by the United States Golf Association in 1957. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1951. Babe was named Female Athlete of the Year a record six times by the Associated Press from 1932 to 1954.
8. Karrie Webb
Australia’s most successful female professional golfer Karrie Webb is one of the greatest players in the history of women’s golf and plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. Karrie achieved the title of LPGA Tour 41 times which is the tenth highest of all time in golf history. She won the LPGA Vare Trophy three times and became the LPGA Tour Leading Money Winner three times. She won 7 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Kraft Nabisco C’ship in 2000 and 2006, LPGA Championship in 2001, U.S. Women’s Open in 2000 and 2001, du Maurier Classic in 1999 and Women’s British Open in 2002. She was named GWAA Female Player of the Year and also received the LPGA Achievement Award in 2000. Karrie was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005.
9. Nancy Lopez
American female professional golfer Nancy Lopez became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977. Nancy achieved the title of LPGA Tour 41 times which is the seventh highest of all time in golf history. She won 3 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which are LPGA Championship in 1978, 1985 and 1989. Nancy became the LPGA Tour Money Winner three times in 1978, 1979 and 1985, was named LPGA Tour Player of the Year four times and received the LPGA Tour Vare Trophy three times. She won the LPGA William and Mousie Powell Award in 1987, Flo Hyman Memorial Award in 1992, USGA Bob Jones Award in 1998 and Old Tom Morris Award in 2000. She was named GWAA Female Player of the Year three times and Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year twice. Nancy was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1987.
10. Sandra Haynie
Former American female professional golfer Sandra Haynie joined the LPGA Tour in 1961 at the age of 18 and achieved her first professional title championship in 1962 at the age of just 19. Sandra gained the title of LPGA Tour 42 times which is the ninth highest of all time in golf history. She won 4 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes LPGA Championship title twice in 1965 and 1974, U.S. Women’s Open in 1974 and du Maurier Classic in 1982. Sandra also received the 2nd place at Western Open in 1967, placed in top 5 at Titleholders C’ship in 1965 and was also placed in top 15 at the Kraft Nabisco C’ship in 1983. She was named LPGA Player of the Year in 1970. Sandra was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977. She played her last full season on the LPGA tour in 1989.
Other notable mention as the best female golfers of all time are JoAnne Carner with 43 LPGA tour titles and 2 major championship titles, Patty Sheehan with 35 LPGA tour titles and 6 major championship titles, and Betsy King with 34 LPGA tour titles and 6 major championship titles.
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