The golf world mourns the loss of the first prize money millionaire and record winner
No one was more successful than her – Kathy Whitworth won 88 tournaments, she died on Christmas Eve at the age of 83
Those: pa/dpa/AP/Horace Cort
Kathy Whitworth is the most successful female golfer of all time. With 88 wins, she has even won more tournaments than Tiger Woods. The first woman to win a million dollars in prize money died unexpectedly on Christmas Eve.
DGolfer Kathy Whitworth, record winner on the women’s professional tour, has died at the age of 83. This was reported by several US media and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournament series, citing Whitworth’s partner. A cause of death was not given. She died suddenly on Christmas Eve at a party with friends and family, it said.
With 88 wins in almost a quarter of a century, she has achieved the most by any player on a single professional tour, the US news agency Associated Press reported. So far, no man has reached this mark. Tiger Woods is the only active golfer within their reach with 82 wins. The golf world has lost an incredible woman. Kathy was a champion in every sense of the word, on and off the golf course. Her strength, insight and vibrancy were evident from the minute I met her,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan.
Whitworth was also the first woman to surpass $1 million in prize money on the LPGA Tour. That was in 1981. Overall, she earned more than $1.7 million in her career. Whitworth won her first title in 1962 and her last in 1985. She won six majors in her career. Whitworth was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1982.
Touching words of the partner
“Kathy left the world the way she lived her lives – laughing, giving love and making memories,” said Whitworth’s partner Bettye Odle.
Whitworth was born in Monahan, a small town in West Texas, in 1939 and learned to play golf in New Mexico. “I don’t think about the legacy of 88 tournaments,” she once said. “I did it because I wanted to win, not to set a record or achieve a goal that no one else can surpass. I’m not a big exception.”
