LPGA Record-Holder: At the age of 83, record-breaking former LPGA Tour player Kathy Whitworth passed away.
Whitworth has 88 victories, breaking Sam Snead and Tiger Woods’ record of 82 on the men’s PGA Tour, for the most victories on any professional tour.
She won six major championships, including the 1967 Western Open, the Titleholders Championship in 1965 and 1966, and the Women’s PGA Championship in 1967, 1971, and 1975, the last of which saw her inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Whitworth was the first American captain of the Solheim Cup in 1990. She is well remembered for her duel with 13-time major champion Mickey Wright.
The LPGA’s commissioner, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, wrote the following on the organization’s website: “With Kathy Whitworth’s departure, the golf world and the world at large both lost one of its most outstanding people.”
Kathy was a champion in every sense of the word—on the golf course and off.
Bettye Odle, Whitworth’s associate, added: “We like to inform everyone of the demise of Kathy Whitworth, the most successful golf professional in history, with a heart full of love. Kathy died away unexpectedly on Saturday evening while spending Christmas Eve with her family and friends.
“Kathy leave this world the same way she had lived it—with love, humour, and the creation of memories.”
When Whitworth was 15 years old, she began playing golf using her grandfather’s clubs in Jal, New Mexico. She later won competitions while still an amateur, went to Texas’ Odessa College, and then became pro at the age of 19 and joined the LPGA Tour.
In a tribute posted on the LPGA Tour website, Whitworth remarked, “I was incredibly lucky in that I knew what I wanted to do. I was basically snatched up by golf. You have no idea how much I adored it. When I was 15 years old, I believed that everyone understood what they wanted to do.”
She had a slow start to her professional career, but her parents encouraged her, and she went on to win the Kelly Girls Open in 1962, the first of her 88 LPGA Tour victories.
Looking back, Whitworth stated, “I’m pleased I didn’t succeed straight away.”
“I was prepared when it happened.”
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