American professional golfer
This article is about the American golfer. For information about the California politician, see
Patty Berg (politician)
.
Patty Berg
|
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Berg, circa 1942
|
|
Full name
| Patricia Jane Berg
|
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Born
| (
1918-02-13
)
February 13, 1918
Minneapolis, Minnesota
, U.S.
|
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Died
| September 10, 2006
(2006-09-10)
(aged 88)
Fort Myers, Florida
, U.S.
|
---|
Sporting nationality
|
United States
|
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|
College
| University of Minnesota
|
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Turned professional
| 1940
|
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Former tour(s)
| LPGA Tour
|
---|
Professional wins
| 63
|
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|
LPGA Tour
| 60 (
4th all time
)
|
---|
Other
| 3
|
---|
|
Western Open
| Won
:
1941
,
1943
,
1948
,
1951
,
1955
,
1957
,
1958
|
---|
Titleholders C'ship
| Won
:
1937
,
1938
,
1939
,
1948
,
1953
,
1955
,
1957
|
---|
Women's PGA C'ship
| 2nd:
1956
,
1959
|
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U.S. Women's Open
| Won
:
1946
|
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|
|
Patricia Jane Berg
(February 13, 1918 ? September 10, 2006)
[1]
was an American
professional golfer
. She was a founding member and the first president of the
LPGA
.
[2]
[3]
Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a female golfer. She is a member of the
World Golf Hall of Fame
.
In winter times she was also a
speed skater
.
[4]
Amateur career
[
edit
]
Berg was born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
, and expressed an interest in football at an early age. At one point, she played quarterback on a local team that included future
Oklahoma Sooners
head football coach
Bud Wilkinson
. At the age of 13, Berg took up golf in 1931 at the suggestion of her parents; by 1934, she began her
amateur
career and won the Minneapolis City Championship.
[3]
The following year, Berg claimed a state amateur title.
[5]
She attended the
University of Minnesota
where she was a member of
Kappa Kappa Gamma
sorority. She came to national attention by reaching the final of the 1935
U.S. Women's Amateur
, losing to
Glenna Collett-Vare
in Vare's final Amateur victory. Berg won the
Titleholders
in 1937. In 1938, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur at Westmoreland
[6]
and the
Women's Western Amateur
. With a victory in the
1938 Titleholders Championship
and a spot on the winning Curtis Cup team as well, Berg was selected as the
Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year
, the first of three times she earned the honor.
[3]
In 1939, Berg won her third consecutive Titleholders, although she was unable to compete in the U.S. Women's Amateur due to an operation on her appendix.
[7]
Professional career
[
edit
]
After winning 29 amateur titles, she turned
professional
in 1940.
[3]
Berg's career had been interrupted by an automobile accident in December 1941; while traveling to a fund-raising event with
Helen Dettweiler
, a head-on accident shattered Berg's knee.
Subsequently, she recovered and volunteered for the
United States Marine Corps
and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1942. She served in the
Marine Reserves
from 1942 to 1945.
[8]
[3]
Despite concerns that her golfing career would end, Berg returned to the game in 1943, helped by a locker room fall that broke
adhesions
which had developed in her leg. Upon her comeback, she won the
Women's Western Open
.
[7]
She won the inaugural
U.S. Women's Open
in 1946. In 1948, she helped establish the forerunner of the LPGA, the Women's Professional Golf Association (WPGA), winning three tournaments that season and in 1949.
[7]
When the LPGA was officially started in 1950, Berg was one of the 13 founding members and held a leadership position as the association's first president.
[3]
Berg won a total of 57 events on the LPGA and WPGA circuit, and was runner-up in the 1957 Open at
Winged Foot
. She was runner-up in the 1956 and 1959
LPGA Championships
.
[3]
In addition, Berg won the 1953, 1957, and 1958
Women's Western Opens
, the 1955 and 1957 Titleholders, both considered majors at the time. Her last victory came in 1962. She was voted the
Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year
in 1942 and 1955, in addition to her 1938 award. During a four-year stretch from 1953 to 1956, Berg won the Vare Trophy three times for having the lowest scoring average on the LPGA.
[5]
She was the LPGA Tour's top money winner twice, in 1954 and 1957, and her seven Titleholders wins is an all-time record.
[3]
Berg won 15
women's major golf championships
in her career, including the seven Titleholders victories, seven wins in the Women's Western Open, and the 1946 U.S. Women's Open championship.
[7]
In 1959, Berg became the first woman to hit a
hole-in-one
during a
USGA
competition, which happened at the
U.S. Women's Open
.
[9]
In 1963, Berg was voted the recipient of the
Bob Jones Award
, the highest honor given by the
United States Golf Association
in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Berg received the 1986
Old Tom Morris Award
from the
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
, GCSAA's highest honor. The LPGA established the
Patty Berg Award
in 1978. In her later years, Berg teamed-up with
PGA Tour
player and fellow
Fort Myers, Florida
resident
Nolan Henke
to establish the
Nolan Henke/Patty Berg Junior Masters
to promote the development of young players.
Berg was sponsored on the LPGA Tour her entire career by public golf patriarch
Joe Jemsek
, owner of the famous
Cog Hill Golf & Country Club
in
Lemont, Illinois
, site of the PGA Tour's
Western Open
from 1991 to 2006. Berg represented another of Jemsek's public facilities,
St. Andrews Golf & Country Club
in
West Chicago, Illinois
, on the women's circuit for over 60 years.
Berg told
Chicagoland Golf
magazine she taught over 16,000 clinics in her lifetime ? many of which were sponsored by
Chicago
-based
Wilson Sporting Goods
and were called "The Patty Berg Hit Parade." In that interview, Berg figured she personally indoctrinated to the game of golf over a half-million new players. She was a member of Wilson's Advisory Staff for 66 years, until her death.
She announced in December 2004 that she had been diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease
. She died in Fort Myers from complications of the disease 21 months later at the age of 88.
Professional wins (63)
[
edit
]
LPGA Tour wins (60)
[
edit
]
- 1937 (1)
Titleholders Championship
(as an amateur)
- 1938 (1)
Titleholders Championship
(as an amateur)
- 1939 (1)
Titleholders Championship
(as an amateur)
- 1941 (3)
Women's Western Open
, North Carolina Open, New York Invitational
- 1943 (2)
Women's Western Open
,
All American Open
- 1945 (1)
All American Open
- 1946 (4) Northern California Open, Northern California Medal Tournament, Pebble Beach Open,
U.S. Women's Open
- 1947 (3) Northern California Open, Pebble Beach Open, Northern California Medal Tournament
- 1948 (3)
Titleholders Championship
,
Women's Western Open
,
Hardscrabble Open
- 1949 (3)
Tampa Open
, Texas PGA Championship,
Hardscrabble Open
- 1950
(3)
Eastern Open
,
Sunset Hills Open
,
Hardscrabble Women's Invitational
- 1951
(5)
Sandhills Women's Open
,
Pebble Beach Weathervane
,
New York Weathervane
,
144 Hole Weathervane
,
Women's Western Open
- 1952
(3)
New Orleans Women's Open
,
Richmond Open
,
New York Weathervane
- 1953
(7)
Jacksonville Open
,
Titleholders Championship
,
New Orleans Women's Open
,
Phoenix Weathervane
(tied with
Louise Suggs
),
Reno Open
,
All American Open
,
World Championship
- 1954
(3)
Triangle Round Robin
,
World Championship
,
Ardmore Open
- 1955
(6)
St. Petersburg Open
,
Titleholders Championship
,
Women's Western Open
,
All American Open
,
World Championship
,
Clock Open
- 1956
(2)
Dallas Open
,
Arkansas Open
- 1957
(5)
Havana Open
,
Titleholders Championship
,
Women's Western Open
,
All American Open
,
World Championship
- 1958
(2)
Women's Western Open
,
American Women's Open
- 1960
(1)
American Women's Open
- 1962
(1)
Muskogee Civitan Open
LPGA
majors
are shown in
bold.
Other wins (3)
[
edit
]
Major championships
[
edit
]
Wins (15)
[
edit
]
Results timeline
[
edit
]
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
Summary
[
edit
]
- Starts ? 97
1
- Wins ? 15
- 2nd-place finishes ? 10
- 3rd-place finishes ? 10
- Top 3 finishes ? 35
- Top 5 finishes ? 47
- Top 10 finishes ? 57
- Top 25 finishes ? 78
- Missed cuts ? 12
- Most consecutive cuts made ? 79
- Longest streak of top-10s ? 32
1
Does not include those with "?"
Team appearances
[
edit
]
Amateur
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Golf pioneer Patty Berg passes away at 88"
. PGA Tour. September 10, 2006. Archived from
the original
on August 28, 2008.
- ^
"About the LPGA - Our Founders"
. LPGA.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Carlson, Michael (September 12, 2006).
"Patty Berg"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
March 16,
2016
.
- ^
"Ice Queens: The First Female Speed Skaters in Minnesota"
. March 26, 2019.
- ^
a
b
Hickok, Ralph (1995).
A Who's Who of Sports Champions: Their Stories and Records
. Houghton Mifflin. pp.
63
?64.
ISBN
9780395733127
.
- ^
"Yesterday's News: Patty Berg, 20, wins first national title"
.
Star Tribune
. September 26, 1938. Archived from
the original
on October 25, 2008
. Retrieved
November 18,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Kalb, Elliott (2006).
Who's Better, Who's Best in Golf?
. McGraw-Hill. pp. 237?240.
ISBN
9780071469777
.
- ^
"Official LPGA Biography"
. Archived from
the original
on October 17, 2006.
- ^
"Patty Berg"
. LPGA.
External links
[
edit
]
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† event won in a playoff; ‡ winner held lead wire-to-wire; # event won by an amateur; ∞ event won in match-play
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† indicates the event was won in a playoff; # indicates the event was won by an amateur
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International
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National
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Other
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