Titleholders Championship facts for kids
The Titleholders Championship was a big golf tournament for women. It was played from 1937 to 1966 and then again in 1972. Later, it was officially named a "major championship" by the LPGA Tour, which is like the top league for women's professional golf.
It's good to know that this tournament is different from two other LPGA events with similar names:
- The Mercury Titleholders Championship: This was a regular LPGA tournament, not a major one, held from 1990 to 1999.
- The CME Group Titleholders: This is the final tournament of the LPGA Tour season, and it has been played since 2011.
Contents
History of the Tournament
The Titleholders Championship started in 1937. It was a bit like the Masters Tournament for men, which also began a few years earlier. Both were played in Augusta, Georgia. However, the Titleholders was held at Augusta Country Club, not the famous Augusta National Golf Club next door.
Golfers who had won other amateur and professional events were invited to play. In the early years, most of the players were amateurs (people who play for fun, not for money). There weren't many professional women golfers back then. Most of them worked as golf instructors or at golf clubs.
The Titleholders tournament didn't offer prize money until 1948. That year, they had $600 to give out, and half of it went to the top professional player. The tournament stopped after November 1966. But it came back for one more year in 1972. That year, it was played in May at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Even though the LPGA organization didn't start until 1950, all these Titleholders tournaments are now recognized as major championships.
Who Won the Titleholders?
Here is a list of the winners of the Titleholders Championship:
| Year | Winner | Country | Score | Runner(s)-up | Winners' share ($) | Purse ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Sandra Palmer |  United States |
283 |  Judy Rankin, Mickey Wright |
3,000 | 20,000 |
| 1967–71 | No tournament | |||||
| 1966 | Kathy Whitworth | United States |
291 | Judy Kimball-Simon, Mary Mills |
1,500 | 10,000 |
| 1965 | Kathy Whitworth | United States |
287 | Peggy Wilson |
1,500 | 10,000 |
| 1964 | Marilynn Smith | United States |
289 | Mickey Wright |
1,300 | 7,500 |
| 1963 | Marilynn Smith | United States |
292PO | Mickey Wright |
1,235 | 7,500 |
| 1962 | Mickey Wright | United States |
295PO | Ruth Jessen |
1,330 | 7,500 |
| 1961 | Mickey Wright | United States |
299 | Patty Berg, Louise Suggs |
1,200 | 7,000 |
| 1960 | Fay Crocker |  Uruguay |
303 |  Kathy Cornelius |
1,140 | 6,000 |
| 1959 | Louise Suggs |  United States |
297 | Betsy Rawls |
1,000 | 5,000 |
| 1958 | Beverly Hanson | United States |
299 | Betty Dodd |
1,000 | 5,275 |
| 1957 | Patty Berg | United States |
296 | Anne Quast (a) |
1,000 | 5,000 |
| 1956 | Louise Suggs | United States |
302 | Patty Berg |
1,000 | 5,000 |
| 1955 | Patty Berg | United States |
291 | Mary Lena Faulk |
1,000 | 5,000 |
| 1954 | Louise Suggs | United States |
293 | Patty Berg |
1,000 | 3,000 |
| 1953 | Patty Berg | United States |
294 | Betsy Rawls |
1,000 | 2,200 |
| 1952 | Babe Zaharias | United States |
299 | Betsy Rawls |
1,000 | 2,100 |
| 1951 | Pat O'Sullivan (a) | United States |
301 | Beverly Hanson |
1,500 | |
| 1950 | Babe Zaharias | United States |
298 | Claire Doran (a) |
700 | 1,500 |
| 1949 | Peggy Kirk (a) | United States |
299 | Patty Berg, Dorothy Kirby (a) |
||
| 1948 | Patty Berg | United States |
308 | Peggy Kirk (a), Babe Zaharias |
||
| 1947 | Babe Zaharias (a) | United States |
304 | Dorothy Kirby (a) |
300 | |
| 1946 | Louise Suggs (a) | United States |
314 | Eileen Stulb (a) |
||
| 1943–45 | No tournament | |||||
| 1942 | Dorothy Kirby (a) | United States |
239^ | Eileen Stulb (a) |
||
| 1941 | Dorothy Kirby (a) | United States |
224^ | Helen Sigel |
||
| 1940 | Helen Hicks (a) | United States |
336 | Helen Dettweiler |
||
| 1939 | Patty Berg (a) | United States |
319 | Dorothy Kirby (a) |
||
| 1938 | Patty Berg (a) | United States |
311 | Jane Cothran (a) |
||
| 1937 | Patty Berg (a) | United States |
240^ | Dorothy Kirby (a) |
||
(a) - means the golfer was an amateur (played for fun, not money).
PO - means the winner won in a playoff (a tie-breaking round).
^ - means the tournament was 54 holes long, not the usual 72.
Golfers Who Won Many Times
This table shows the golfers who won the Titleholders Championship more than once.
| Country | Golfer | Total Wins | Years Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Country
This table shows how many times golfers from each country won the Titleholders Championship.
| Nationality | Number of wins |
|---|---|
| United States |
27 |
| Uruguay |
1 |
