Kathy Whitworth, the most successful golfer in history, dies at 83

The American Kathy Whitworth, the most successful golfer on the LPGA Tour, died on Christmas Eve at the age of 83. She announced the American women’s golf circuit. “Kathy passed away suddenly on Saturday night while celebrating Christmas Eve with her family and friends. Kathy left this world while living her life, loving, laughing and making memories,” said her partner Bettye Odle, without revealing the cause of death.

Whitworth, the first title in 1962

Raised in Jal, New Mexico, Whitworth began playing golf at age 15 with her grandfather’s clubs and, after winning titles as an amateur and attending Odessa College in Texas, turned pro at 19 and she joined the LPGA Tour. “I was really lucky because I knew what I wanted to do,” she said in a recollection posted on the LPGA Tour website. The first of her 88 LPGA Tour titles came at the Kelly Girls Open in 1962.

Passed the million dollar mark in his career

She was named LPGA Tour Player of the Year seven times and was the first LPGA player to surpass a million dollars in career earnings. She captured her last title at the United Virginia Bank Classic in 1985. Despite these many victories, the American never put the US Women’s Open on the shelf. “The golf world and the world at large has lost one of its most incredible women in the passing of Kathy Whitworth. Kathy was a champion in every sense of the word, both on and off the golf course,” the Commissioner underlined. Lpga, Mollie Marcoux Samaan.