Titleholders Championship

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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.

It should not be confused with two other LPGA events with similar names:

  • The Mercury Titleholders Championship: A regular (non-major) LPGA tournament held from 1990 to 1999.
  • The CME Group Titleholders: The season-ending tournament on the LPGA Tour held since 2011.

History[]

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[]

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

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

Multiple winners[]

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[]

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[]

  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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