Full name Elizabeth Earle Rawls Other 3 Retired 1975 Professional wins 58 Role Golfer LPGA tour wins 55 | Nationality United States Name Betsy Rawls Nickname Betsy Western Open Won: 1952, 1959 Turned professional 1951 | |
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Women s golf highlights betsy rawls longhorn invitational day 1 oct 13 2013
Elizabeth Earle "Betsy" Rawls (born May 4, 1928) is an American former LPGA Tour professional golfer. She won eight major championship and 55 LPGA Tour career events. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Contents
- Women s golf highlights betsy rawls longhorn invitational day 1 oct 13 2013
- tbt columbia profile betsy rawls from 1977
- Amateur career
- Professional career
- Breast cancer
- LPGA Tour wins 55
- Other wins 3
- Wins 8
- References
tbt columbia profile betsy rawls from 1977
Amateur career
Rawls was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina and grew up in Arlington, Texas. She attended the University of Texas. She started playing golf at age 17. She won the Texas Amateur in 1949 and 1950. She also won the 1949 Trans-National and the 1950 Broadmoor Invitational. In 1950, she finished second at the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur.
Professional career
Rawls turned professional in 1951 and joined the LPGA Tour. She won her first tournament that year at the Sacramento Women's Invitational Open. She would go on to win a total of 55 events on the LPGA Tour, including eight major championships. In 1959, she earned the LPGA Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. She was the tour's leading money winner in 1952 and 1959 and finished in the top ten on the money list a total of nine times. She led the tour in wins three times, 1952 with eight, 1957 with five (tied with Patty Berg), and 1959 with ten.
Rawls was the LPGA's president from 1961 to 1962. In 1967, when the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame was created, she was one of the six inaugural inductees. The LPGA recognized her induction year into the Hall of Fame of Women’s Golf, 1960, as her official induction year into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame. Following her retirement from tournament play in 1975, she became a tournament director for the LPGA Tour. In 1996, she was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women in 2006.
Breast cancer
Rawls was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 and has no evidence of the disease as of 2006. "Looking back, it was a small blip in my life," Rawls said from her office in Wilmington, Delaware.
LPGA Tour wins (55)
LPGA majors are shown in bold.
Other wins (3)
Wins (8)
1 In an 18-hole playoff, Rawls 70, Pung 77.