\u0022Golf just grabbed me by the throat. I can\u0027t tell you how much I loved it,\u0022 she once said
Raised in Jal, New Mexico, Whitworth first began playing golf at the age of 15 with her grandfather’s clubs and after winning titles as an amateur and attending Odessa College in Texas, turned pro at 19 and joined the LPGA Tour.
“I was really fortunate in that I knew what I wanted to do,” Whitworth said in a remembrance published on the LPGA Tour’s website. “Golf just grabbed me by the throat. I can’t tell you how much I loved it. I used to think everyone knew what they wanted to do when they were 15 years old.”Article contentHer mother and father supported her amid a sluggish start to her pro career and she won the first of her 88 LPGA Tour titles at the Kelly Girls Open in 1962.“When it happened, I was ready.”
She went on to claim six major championships, was named LPGA Tour’s Player of the Year seven times and became the first LPGA player to pass $1 million in career earnings. She claimed her final title at the United Virginia Bank Classic in 1985.Her career included a rivalry with fellow late World Golf Hall of Famer Mickey Wright, who is second behind Whitworth in LPGA Tour wins with 82. Tiger Woods and Sam Snead are tied for the most wins on the PGA Tour with 82.
“She hated herself when she made a mistake. She was wonderful to play with — sweet as she could be, nice to everybody — but oh, man, she berated herself something awful. And that’s what drove her.”“She inspired me as a young girl and now as the commissioner and I know she did the same for so many others,” Samaan said on the LPGA website.Share this article in your social network
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