Kathy Whitworth

Amateur career

Whitworth was born in Monahans, Texas. Whitworth lived in Jal, New Mexico where her father owned a hardware store. She began playing golf at age of 15 and won the 1957 and 1958 New Mexico State Amateur Championship. She attended Odessa College. She became a professional player at 19, joining the LPGA in December 1958.

Professional career

In 1962 she won her first tournament, the Kelly Girls Open. She won a total of six major championships. She was LPGA Player of the Year seven times between 1966 and 1973, won the Vare Trophy for best scoring average by an LPGA Tour Player a record seven times between 1965 and 1972, and entered the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975. She was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 1965 and 1967. She was Named "Golfer of the Decade" by Golf Magazine for the years 1968 to 1977 during the 1988 Centennial of Golf in America celebration. She received the 1985 William Richardson Award from the Golf Writers Association of America for consistent outstanding contributions to golf.

She was the U.S. team captain at the inaugural Solheim Cup match in 1990.

In 1974 Whitworth won the Orange Blossom Classic. It was her fifth triumph in that tournament that was also known during its existence as the St. Petersburg Open. Only three other LPGA golfers have won the same tournament five times.

Whitworth retired from competitive golf in 2005 after competing in the BJ's Charity Classic, an event on the Women's Senior Golf Tour. She was a member of the New Mexico Hall of Fame, Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Texas Golf Hall of Fame, and the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame

LPGA Tour wins (88)

Note: Whitworth won the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle (now known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship) before it became a major championship.

LPGA Tour playoff record (8-20)

Other wins