Born on September 27, 1939, in Monohans, Texas, Kathy Whitworth grew up in Jal, New Mexico. She first tried the game of golf at fifteen and took to it immediately. After graduating from high school in 1957 she attended Odessa Junior College in Texas for a semester. By 1959 her golf game had progressed to the point where she could join the professional tour. It was two years before her winnings exceeded her expenses, and in 1962 she won her first two professional tournaments and came in second in money winnings to Mickey Wright. She won eight tournaments in 1963.
She was the leading money winner on the Ladies╒ Professional Golf Association tour in 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973; the LPGA player of the year seven times, in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, and 1973; and the Associated Press woman athlete of the year in 1965 and 1966. In 1969 she passed Mickey Wright to become the leading all-time money winner on the tour; in 1974 her career earnings totaled over $500,000 and by 1981 she was the first woman golfer to pass the million-dollar mark. She won the Vare Trophy, for best average in the LPGA tour, in 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1972. She was the winner of the LPGA championship tournament in 1967 and 1971. She won every major tournament on the tour at one time or another except for the U.S. Open, which eluded her year after year. In 1970 she was elected president of the LPGA, and she worked to considerable effect to increase the commercial appeal of the tour and consequently the size of purses offered. Kathy Whitworth was known for her strong drives but especially for her precise, unflappable short game. She was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1975, the World Golf Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1982, and the International Women╒s Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.
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