From her pro debut in 1962 to 1985, “Whit” went on to win 88 LPGA tournaments. Plus one tournament victory on the European Tour and nine other tournaments, you come close to a hundred victories for the golfer from Texas. In addition, he came second in 95 tournaments. Top two 183 times. Stick it! Kathy Whitworth was born in the small town of Monahans, and grew up in Jal, New Mexico, where her father was a hardware store. She didn’t start playing golf until she was 15, with her grandfather’s golf clubs on the 9-hole course nearby. But she quickly showed herself to be a great talent, so her career went up quickly. – When I tried to play golf, I was bitten by the bug right away. I love it from the first moment, she said in an interview with Golf Digest. BUNKER: “Whit” also ended up in the sand from time to time, but was a master at playing his way out of the pits Photo: Horace Cort / AP Almost giving up after a difficult start In 1957 he went all the way to the top of the amateur championship in New Mexico , and repeated it the following year. Then he turned professional, 19 years old. The start was not so good. In the “rookie season” she used an average of 80.3 strokes per tournament. Most courses have 72 as par. It only gave her $1,217 in total prize money, and she was on the verge of giving up. But she didn’t, and her golf life would slowly but surely become historic. Her father, along with some other local business people, sponsored her with 15,000 dollars a year at the start, when she won nothing and struggled to afford to play. – You get three years. If you don’t get anywhere then, you can come back home, and we’ll find something else for you to do, said the father. – It took the pressure off me, said Kathy Whitworth. She also said that she was glad that she did not come to success easily at the start of her career, but had to work her way up. – That made me ready for it when I finally went to the top, she said. – You have to learn how to win and lose. You do that by trial and error. It would be more than two years before she won her first professional title, The Kelly Girls Open in 1962. Then things went wrong. Six major titles “Berre” six times went to the top in a major tournament. The first was the Titleholder’s Cup in Augusta in November 1965. There he was completely superior, ten strokes better than second, and two strokes better than the course record. THE FIRST: Whitworth with her first major trophy, the Titleholder’s Cup, in 1965, which she won by a margin of ten strokes Photo: Anonymous / AP Although this was her first major, it was her 19th victory in the LPGA, and the eighth only that season. She was also to defend the title in this tournament the following season. She also won the LPGA PLayers Championship three times, in 1967, 1971 and 1975. In 17 straight seasons she won at least one tournament, and in seven seasons she won seven or more tournaments. – She was extremely ambitious, and never satisfied with anything “almost”. From a hundred yards it wasn’t enough to try to hit the ball close to the hole, she wasn’t satisfied if she didn’t hit it, said Greg Sheridan, her caddy for many years. From 1966 to 1972, she was the LPGA’s best player for six out of seven years, and naturally got a place in golf’s Hall of Fame. Lost her savings after bankruptcy and fraud In 1981 she became the first woman to pass one million dollars in recorded prize money. It was after she made her big mistake: She invested all her savings in a company in California. Five years later it went bankrupt. The director was convicted of large-scale fraud and embezzlement, but that did not give Whitworth the money back. Almost broke, she therefore had to work as an instructor and give lectures to earn a living. CAREER: Kathy Whitworth’s professional career spanned from 1959 to 2005 Photo: Jim Bourdier / AP The 88th and last tournament she won was the Bank Classic in Virginia in May 1985. But she didn’t give up. In 1990, he became captain of the USA team in the very first Solheim Cup, the competition against Europe, and named after the Norwegian Karsten Solheim. The match took place in Florida, and Whitworth led the USA to a clear victory. She was also elected captain in the next competition, in Scotland. But just before the tournament was to start, she got a phone call that her mother had died, and went home. The USA lost almost as clearly as they won the year before. – I should never have traveled there at all, and take full responsibility for the fact that we lost, she told golf.com. It wasn’t until 2005 that she played her last tournament in the Women’s Senior Golf Tour. Karhy Whitworth was then 66 years old. Today, all her 88 trophies are on display in a clubhouse not far from Dallas, where she lived. After her career she traveled around coaching and inspiring young and old golfers. The goal was not only to make them the best possible to win tournaments, but to have fun with golf. – The most important thing is that you like yourself, she said.
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Kathy “Whit” Whitworth is dead – top two in 183 tournaments – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
