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Patty Berg

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This article is about the American golfer. For information about the California politician, seePatty Berg (politician).

Patty Berg
Berg, circa 1942
Personal information
Full namePatricia Jane Berg
Born(1918-02-13)February 13, 1918
Minneapolis, Minnesota,U.S.
DiedSeptember 10, 2006(2006-09-10)(aged 88)
Fort Myers, Florida,U.S.
Sporting nationalityUnited States
Career
CollegeUniversity of Minnesota
Turned professional1940
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour
Professional wins63
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour60 (4th all time)
Other3
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 15)
Western OpenWon:1941,1943,1948,1951,1955,1957,1958
Titleholders C'shipWon:1937,1938,1939,1948,1953,1955,1957
Women's PGA C'ship2nd:1956,1959
U.S. Women's OpenWon:1946
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame1951(member page)
LPGA Tour
Money Winner		1954, 1955, 1957
LPGAVare Trophy1953, 1955, 1956
Associated Press
Female Athlete of the Year		1938, 1943, 1955
Bob Jones Award1963
Patty Berg Award1990

Patricia Jane Berg(February 13, 1918 – September 10, 2006)[1]was an Americanprofessional golfer.She was a founding member and the first president of theLPGA.[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 theWorld Golf Hall of Fame.

In winter times she was also aspeed skater.[4]

Amateur career

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Berg was born inMinneapolis, Minnesota,and expressed an interest in football at an early age. At one point, she played quarterback on a local team that included futureOklahoma Soonershead football coachBud Wilkinson.At the age of 13, Berg took up golf in 1931 at the suggestion of her parents; by 1934, she began heramateurcareer and won the Minneapolis City Championship.[3]The following year, Berg claimed a state amateur title.[5]She attended theUniversity of Minnesotawhere she was a member ofKappa Kappa Gammasorority. She came to national attention by reaching the final of the 1935U.S. Women's Amateur,losing toGlenna Collett-Varein Vare's final Amateur victory. Berg won theTitleholdersin 1937. In 1938, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur at Westmoreland[6]and theWomen's Western Amateur.With a victory in the1938 Titleholders Championshipand a spot on the winning Curtis Cup team as well, Berg was selected as theAssociated 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

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After winning 29 amateur titles, she turnedprofessionalin 1940.[3]Berg's career had been interrupted by an automobile accident in December 1941; while traveling to a fund-raising event withHelen Dettweiler,a head-on accident shattered Berg's knee.

Berg being sworn into theUnited States Marine Corps Women's ReserveduringWorld War II.

Subsequently, she recovered and volunteered for theUnited States Marine Corpsand was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1942. She served in theMarine Reservesfrom 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 brokeadhesionswhich had developed in her leg. Upon her comeback, she won theWomen's Western Open.[7]She won the inauguralU.S. Women's Openin 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 atWinged Foot.She was runner-up in the 1956 and 1959LPGA Championships.[3]In addition, Berg won the 1953, 1957, and 1958Women's Western Opens,the 1955 and 1957 Titleholders, both considered majors at the time. Her last victory came in 1962. She was voted theAssociated Press Woman Athlete of the Yearin 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 15women's major golf championshipsin 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 ahole-in-oneduring aUSGAcompetition, which happened at theU.S. Women's Open.[9]

In 1963, Berg was voted the recipient of theBob Jones Award,the highest honor given by theUnited States Golf Associationin recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Berg received the 1986Old Tom Morris Awardfrom theGolf Course Superintendents Association of America,GCSAA's highest honor. The LPGA established thePatty Berg Awardin 1978. In her later years, Berg teamed-up withPGA Tourplayer and fellowFort Myers, FloridaresidentNolan Henketo establish theNolan Henke/Patty Berg Junior Mastersto promote the development of young players.

Berg was sponsored on the LPGA Tour her entire career by public golf patriarchJoe Jemsek,owner of the famousCog Hill Golf & Country ClubinLemont, Illinois,site of the PGA Tour'sWestern Openfrom 1991 to 2006. Berg represented another of Jemsek's public facilities,St. Andrews Golf & Country ClubinWest Chicago, Illinois,on the women's circuit for over 60 years.

Berg toldChicagoland Golfmagazine she taught over 16,000 clinics in her lifetime – many of which were sponsored byChicago-basedWilson Sporting Goodsand 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 withAlzheimer's disease.She died in Fort Myers from complications of the disease 21 months later at the age of 88.

Professional wins (63)

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LPGA Tour wins (60)

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LPGAmajorsare shown inbold.

Other wins (3)

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Major championships

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Wins (15)

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Year Championship Winning score Margin Runner(s)-up
1937 Titleholders Championship +3 (80-87-73=240) 3 strokes United StatesDorothy Kirby(a)
1938 Titleholders Championship −5 (78-79-77-77=311) 14 strokes United StatesJane Cothran(a)
1939 Titleholders Championship +19 (78-78-83-80=319) 2 strokes United StatesDorothy Kirby (a)
1941 Women's Western Open 7 & 6 United StatesMrs. Burt Weil
1943 Women's Western Open 1 up United StatesDorothy Kirby (a)
1946 U.S. Women's Open 4 & 3 United StatesBetty Jameson
1948 Titleholders Championship +8 (80-74-78-76=308) 1 stroke United StatesPeggy Kirk,United StatesBabe Zaharias
1948 Women's Western Open 37 holes United StatesBabe Zaharias
1951 Women's Western Open 2 up United StatesPat O'Sullivan(a)
1953 Titleholders Championship +6 (72-74-73-75=294) 9 strokes United StatesBetsy Rawls
1955 Titleholders Championship +3 (76-68-74-73=291) 2 strokes United StatesMary Lena Faulk
1955 Women's Western Open E (73-75-71-73=292) 2 strokes UruguayFay Crocker,United StatesLouise Suggs
1957 Titleholders Championship +8 (78-71-78-69=296) 3 strokes United StatesAnne Quast(a)
1957 Women's Western Open −1 (72-70-75-74=291) 1 stroke United StatesWiffi Smith
1958 Women's Western Open +1 (75-72-71-75=293) 4 strokes United StatesBeverly Hanson

Results timeline

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Tournament 1937 1938 1939
Women's Western Open DNP QF DNP
Titleholders Championship 1 1 1
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
Women's Western Open DNP 1 DNP 1 QF DNP 2 SF 1 SF
Titleholders Championship ? ? ? NT NT NT ? 4 1 T2
U.S. Women's Open NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF 1 9 T4 T4
Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Women's Western Open SF 1 QF 2 SF 1 T4 1 1 T2
Titleholders Championship T8 T3 T3 1 2 1 2 1 3 T8
U.S. Women's Open 5 8 9 3 12 5 T3 2 T9 6
LPGA Championship NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF ? 2 7 12 2
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Women's Western Open T13 T15 T3 DNP 14 9 WD T11 NT NT
Titleholders Championship T4 T2 4 22 T15 23 DNP NT NT NT
U.S. Women's Open 17 18 T13 T29 10 T22 T18 39 T29 CUT
LPGA Championship 4 20 T13 DNP 12 T11 DNP T22 T22 T17
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Titleholders Championship NT NT T36 NT NT NT NT NT NT NT
U.S. Women's Open 31 DNP DNP CUT DNP CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT
LPGA Championship T17 DNP CUT T51 CUT CUT CUT DNP CUT DNP

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

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  • Starts – 971
  • 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

1Does not include those with "?"

Team appearances

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Amateur

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Golf pioneer Patty Berg passes away at 88".PGA Tour. September 10, 2006. Archived fromthe originalon August 28, 2008.
  2. ^"About the LPGA - Our Founders".LPGA.
  3. ^abcdefghCarlson, Michael (September 12, 2006)."Patty Berg".The Guardian.RetrievedMarch 16,2016.
  4. ^"Ice Queens: The First Female Speed Skaters in Minnesota".March 26, 2019.
  5. ^abHickok, Ralph (1995).A Who's Who of Sports Champions: Their Stories and Records.Houghton Mifflin. pp.63–64.ISBN9780395733127.
  6. ^"Yesterday's News: Patty Berg, 20, wins first national title".Star Tribune.September 26, 1938. Archived fromthe originalon October 25, 2008.RetrievedNovember 18,2008.
  7. ^abcdKalb, Elliott (2006).Who's Better, Who's Best in Golf?.McGraw-Hill. pp. 237–240.ISBN9780071469777.
  8. ^"Official LPGA Biography".Archived fromthe originalon October 17, 2006.
  9. ^"Patty Berg".LPGA.
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