With the recent sad sports news about the passing of Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach and Pittsburgh Steelers Hall-of-Fame running back Franco Harris, a third sports giant died last week, too.
Far from a household name, this quiet sports legend captured 88 professional golf wins while on tour.
Though she was not regarded as the most talented professional golfer of her time, she dominated women’s golf just as much as Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus have done on the men’s tour.
Yet, her passing on Christmas Eve at the age of 83 was hardly noticed by most of the football-dominated sports media.
She may have liked that, too.
She once said, “When I’m asked how I would like to be remembered, I feel that if people remember me at all, it will be good enough.”
Kathrynne Ann Whitworth had more professional golf wins than any other golfer – man or woman.
Kathy Whitworth’s 88 victories are six wins ahead of her closest competition.
LPGA legend Mickey Wright picked-up 82 wins in her injury-shortened 14 year professional golf career.
On the men’s side, sweet swinging Sam Snead and Tiger Woods have accumulated 82 career wins each.
The funny thing about Kathy Whitworth is that she never believed that she had the type of golf swing which would be good enough to compete at the highest levels.
Growing up in the oil-dominated Permian Basin area of west Texas and eastern New Mexico, Kathy Whitworth excelled as a young tennis player. Like many of us, she lost interest in tennis over time but fell in love with golf.
Using her grandmother’s set of clubs, 15-year old Kathy Whitworth began playing golf in nearby rural New Mexico. She learned to play golf at a nine-hole golf course located on property owned by El Paso Natural Gas Company and primarily used by the company’s employees.
Said Whitworth, “Golf just grabbed me by the throat. I can’t tell you how much I loved it.”
Kathy Whitworth was a quick learner on the golf course, too. She won the first of her two New Mexico State Amateur titles at age 17.
According to legendary Texas golf instructor Harvey Penick, Kathy Whitworth asked her Mom to drive 500 miles to Austin to see him. She knew that Coach Penick (who later mentored PGA Tour players Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw) might be able to help improve her golf game.
Kathy Whitworth quietly wanted to try playing golf at the highest level someday soon.
In his “Little Red Golf Book”, Harvey Penick described Whitworth as having a very natural golf swing which was all her own. The two would remain life-long friends. Soon after Kathy Whitworth returned to New Mexico following her initial lessons, she enrolled in nearby Odessa Junior College.
She hated going to college.
Whitworth dropped out of school a few months later and wrote back to Coach Penick. She told him, “I guess you’ll want to kick me in the seat of the pants, but I want to go on the pro tour!”
Once again, her mother would drive this determined young lady across the massive state of Texas. In December, 1958, Kathy participated in her first professional golf tournament in Beaumont, Texas. She made the cut, a small paycheck, and was on her way in ladies’ professional golf.
However, success on the LPGA Tour would not come as easily as first believed.
Kathy Whitworth played in 26 events the following year in 1959. She won less than $1,300 – for the entire year!
Disappointed by her rookie season efforts, it was back to Austin, Texas and another visit to Harvey Penick to see if he could offer some assistance. She was sorely lacking in self-confidence.
Kathy Whitworth (a future golf Hall-of-Famer) once stated, “I never had a golf swing.”
Harvey Penick disagreed.
He tells that Whitworth was the best long distance putter he...
