Wikipedia

Titleholders Championship

This article is about the women's major golf championship played from 1937 to 1966 and again in 1972. For the regular (non-major) golf tournament played from 1990 to 1999, see Mercury Titleholders Championship. For the season-ending tournament on the LPGA Tour played since 2011, see CME Group Titleholders.

The Titleholders Championship was a women's golf tournament played from in 1937 to 1966 and again in 1972. It was later designated a major championship by the LPGA Tour.

History

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The Titleholders Championship was founded in 1937. Like the Masters Tournament for men, which began a few years earlier, it was played in Augusta, Georgia, but at Augusta Country Club, not at the adjacent Augusta National Golf Club. The winners of various amateur and professional events were invited to take part, although most of the competitors were amateurs. There were very few women professionals at the time and most earned their living as club or teaching professionals.

The Titleholders itself did not offer prize money until 1948, when a prize fund of $600 was introduced, with half of the money going to the professional placing highest in the event. The tournament was discontinued after November 1966,[1] but was revived for one year in 1972, when it was played in May at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina.[2] All of these stagings are now recognized as major championships by the LPGA, even though the organization was not founded until 1950.

Winners

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See also: List of Titleholders Championship champions
Year Winner Country Score Runner(s)-up Winners'
share ($)		 Purse ($) Ref
1972 Sandra Palmer   United States 283   Judy Rankin,   Mickey Wright 3,000 20,000 [2][3]
1967–71 No tournament
1966 Kathy Whitworth   United States 291   Judy Kimball-Simon,   Mary Mills 1,500 10,000 [1][4]
1965 Kathy Whitworth   United States 287   Peggy Wilson 1,500 10,000 [5][4]
1964 Marilynn Smith   United States 289   Mickey Wright 1,300 7,500 [4]
1963 Marilynn Smith   United States 292PO   Mickey Wright 1,235 7,500 [4]
1962 Mickey Wright   United States 295PO   Ruth Jessen 1,330 7,500 [4]
1961 Mickey Wright   United States 299   Patty Berg,   Louise Suggs 1,200 7,000 [4]
1960 Fay Crocker   Uruguay 303   Kathy Cornelius 1,140 6,000 [4]
1959 Louise Suggs   United States 297   Betsy Rawls 1,000 5,000 [6]
1958 Beverly Hanson   United States 299   Betty Dodd 1,000 5,275 [6]
1957 Patty Berg   United States 296   Anne Quast (a) 1,000 5,000 [6]
1956 Louise Suggs   United States 302   Patty Berg 1,000 5,000 [6]
1955 Patty Berg   United States 291   Mary Lena Faulk 1,000 5,000 [6]
1954 Louise Suggs   United States 293   Patty Berg 1,000 3,000 [6]
1953 Patty Berg   United States 294   Betsy Rawls 1,000 2,200 [6]
1952 Babe Zaharias   United States 299   Betsy Rawls 1,000 2,100 [6]
1951 Pat O'Sullivan (a)   United States 301   Beverly Hanson 1,500 [6]
1950 Babe Zaharias   United States 298   Claire Doran (a) 700 1,500 [6]
1949 Peggy Kirk (a)   United States 299   Patty Berg,   Dorothy Kirby (a) [7]
1948 Patty Berg   United States 308   Peggy Kirk (a),   Babe Zaharias [8]
1947 Babe Zaharias (a)   United States 304   Dorothy Kirby (a) 300 [9]
1946 Louise Suggs (a)   United States 314   Eileen Stulb (a) [10]
1943–45 No tournament
1942 Dorothy Kirby (a)   United States 239^   Eileen Stulb (a) [11]
1941 Dorothy Kirby (a)   United States 224^   Helen Sigel [12]
1940 Helen Hicks (a)   United States 336   Helen Dettweiler [13]
1939 Patty Berg (a)   United States 319   Dorothy Kirby (a) [14]
1938 Patty Berg (a)   United States 311   Jane Cothran (a) [15]
1937 Patty Berg (a)   United States 240^   Dorothy Kirby (a) [16]

(a) - denotes amateur
PO - won in playoff
^ - 54 holes

Multiple winners

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This table lists the golfers who have won more than one Titleholders Championship.

Deceased golfer †
Grand Slam winners ‡
Deceased Grand Slam winners ∞
Country Golfer Total Years
  United States Patty Berg † 7 1937, 1938, 1939, 1948, 1953, 1955, 1957
  United States Louise Suggs ∞ 4 1946, 1954, 1956, 1959
  United States Babe Zaharias † 3 1947, 1950, 1952
  United States Dorothy Kirby † 2 1941, 1942
  United States Mickey Wright ‡ 2 1961, 1962
  United States Marilynn Smith † 2 1963, 1964
  United States Kathy Whitworth † 2 1965, 1966

Winners by nationality

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This table lists the total number of titles won by golfers of each nationality as a major.

Nationality Number
of wins
  United States 27
  Uruguay 1

References

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  1. ^ a b "Whitworth rules Titleholders". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). Associated Press. November 28, 1966. p. 4C.
  2. ^ a b "Palmer shreds Titleholders with 283 win". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). Associated Press. May 30, 1972. p. 7C.
  3. ^ LPGA Tournament Chronology - 1970-79
  4. ^ a b c d e f g LPGA Tournament Chronology - 1960-69
  5. ^ "Women's Golf". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 29, 1965. p. 16.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j LPGA Tournament Chronology - 1950-59
  7. ^ "Peggy Kirk Wins Augusta Tourney". The Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. Associated Press. March 21, 1949. p. 10. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  8. ^ "Berg Captures Titleholders Golf Tourney". The Spartanburg Herald. Spartanburg, South Carolina. Associated Press. March 22, 1948. p. 7. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  9. ^ "Zaharias Cops Golf Crown". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Associated Press. March 31, 1947. pp. 2–4. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  10. ^ "Suggs Wins Titleholders Golf Event". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. United Press. April 13, 1946. p. 12. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  11. ^ "Miss Kirby Keeps Title". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania. April 3, 1942. p. 20. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  12. ^ "Dorothy Kirby Ties Own Golf Record". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. April 10, 1941. p. 35. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  13. ^ "Augusta Golf to Mrs. Harb". San Antonio Light. San Antonio, Texas. Associated Press. January 19, 1940. p. 11A.
  14. ^ "Patty Berg Again Is Augusta Winner". Ellensburg Daily Record. Ellensburg, Washington. Associated Press. January 20, 1939. p. 6. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  15. ^ "Patty Berg Races Ahead Of Golfers In Augusta Event". The Spartanburg Herald. Spartanburg, South Carolina. Associated Press. January 17, 1938. p. 7. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  16. ^ "Patty Berg Triumphs". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Associated Press. January 18, 1937. p. 16. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
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