Welcome to a new series on Fore-All celebrating 75 years of golf on the LPGA Tour. Every Sunday, we will take a look at the rich history of the LPGA Tour. This will include interviews and profiles of some of the legendary figures who have made this league what it is today.
For our first entry into this series, let’s take a look at the greatest players to ever play on the tour and how each impacted the sport today. Note: We will only include each player once, so even though some players dominated multiple decades they will only be listed for one of them.
1950’s – BABE DIDRIKSON ZAHARIAS
Zaharias’ career and life were unfortunately cut short in 1956 when she died of cancer at 45-years-old, but the first half of the decade was as dominant as any women’s golfer has ever been. Zaharias won 31 times from 1950-1955, including at five major championships. In 1999, she was voted by Associated Press as the Women’s Athlete of the Century and ESPN named her the No. 10 Athlete of the 20th Century, and the highest ranking female. Before dominating golf, Zaharias was a gold medalist at the Olympics in Track and Field and even made a few appearances as a pitcher in Major League Baseball Spring Training. Zaharias isn’t just one of the greatest golfers of all time, but also one of the more interesting figures in sports of the 20th century.
Honorable Mentions: Patty Berg, Louise Suggs, Betsy Rawls
1960’s – MICKEY WRIGHT
Mickey Wright absolutely dominated the first half of the 1960’s on the LPGA Tour. Wright won 67 times in the decade, including a four-year stretch from 1961-1964 where she won 44 events. Not only was she winning standard tournaments, she was racking up major titles as well. Wright won 10 major championships in the decade, eight of those coming between ’61 and ’64. In 2000, Wright was named the greatest women’s golfer of all time and Golf Magazine gave her that same honor in 2009. Wright is the only player in LPGA Tour history to hold all four major titles at the same time, a feat that doesn’t seem likely to be matched soon. Ben Hogan himself said Wright’s swing was the best he ever saw.
Honorable Mentions: Kathy Whitworth, Carol Mann, Marilynn Smith
1970’s – KATHY WHITWORTH
Though Whitworth did the heavy dose of her damage in the ’60s, she was still probably the greatest player of the 1970’s as well. The LPGA Tour’s all-time wins leader won the LPGA Tour Player of the Year Award in 1971, 1972 and 1973. She was the money leader in 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973 and led in scoring average in 1970, 1971 and 1972. While most of her best years in the decade were at the start, with 19 of her wins coming in the first half of the 70s, she still added eight more from 1975-1979. Whitworth also won two of her six major championships in the decade and stamped her place in golf history as one of the greatest women to ever swing a club.
Honorable Mentions: Nancy Lopez, JoAnne Carner, Jane Blalock
1980’s – NANCY LOPEZ
While there is stiff competition here, it could be heavily argued that to this day, Nancy Lopez might be the most enduring icon in the history of the LPGA Tour. While arguably her two best seasons came in 1978 and 1979, she was the star of the LPGA Tour throughout the 80s. Lopez won 25 times in the decade with two of her three majors coming in that time. She was the LPGA Tour Player of the Year twice in 1985 and 1988 and was AP Women’s Athlete of the Year in 1985. Her 1985 season saw her winning five times, including her second major title, and she also led the tour in scoring average. While Pat Bradley has her beat in majors won during the decade with her incredible six over the 10 years, Lopez has her beat everywhere else.
Honorable Mentions: Pat Bradley, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan
1990’s – ANNIKA SÖRENSTAM
The era of Annika Sörenstam brought a level of dominance not seen in the women’s game since the days of Mickey Wright. This was the beginning of her rise to being the greatest player in Tour history, and it was a quick introduction. Hitting the tour in 1994, her first win was at the U.S. Women’s Open. She defended that title the next year. She won three Player of the Year awards in 1995, 1997 and 1998. She led the tour in scoring average in 1995, 1996 and 1998. Over the decade she won 18 times including those two majors. She was the biggest game-changing superstar during the era of increased media and television coverage of the game. While her best years were still ahead of her, Sörenstam was still the player of the 90’s without a doubt.
Honorable Mentions: Beth Daniel, Betsy King, Karrie Webb
2000’s – LORENA OCHOA
This might have been the toughest decade to choose. Karrie Webb dominated the majors in the 2000’s, winning six, and Sörenstam was of course the greatest player during her time here, winning at a level not seen in modern women’s golf. I went with Lorena Ochoa here though, because it is impossible to tell the story of the LPGA in the 2000’s without mentioning her. Ochoa’s short time on tour was maybe the most dominant ever. She won 27 times between 2004 and 2009 including two majors. To put this into perspective, Ochoa is still only 43-years-old. Ochoa won 21 times from 2006-2008 and took on the mantle from her fellow Arizona Wildcat Sörenstam as the superstar of the game, for a short time. Who knows what this career could have been if she would have continued playing. Ochoa won both Player of the Year and led in scoring average each of her last four years of full-time play.
Honorable Mentions: Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak, Cristie Kerr
2010’s – INBEE PARK
The 2010’s were defined by new young superstars and dominance from South Korea. No player embodied that more than Inbee Park. While Park won Player of the Year only once, which is some fun trivia, she was really the dominant force in the decade. Maybe the greatest putter to ever touch a golf course, Park played her way. Short, accurate hitting and deadly putting. Park won 18 times in the 2010’s, but six of those were in majors. All six of those major championship victories came in a span of three years from 2013-2015. She also won an Olympic Gold Medal in 2016. Park’s 2013 might be the greatest season of the last 20 years, where she won six overall events with three majors. While she slowed down heavily in the back half of the decade, winning just twice from 2016-2019, there’s still no doubt who is on top here.
Honorable Mentions: Lydia Ko, Yani Tseng, Ariya Jutanugarn
2020’s – NELLY KORDA
This decade is only half over, but it has belonged to Nelly Korda. The crazy thing is, she has dealt with some pretty major injuries, but is still the most dominant figure. She is one of three players to win multiple majors in this span, and has the most wins of anyone in the decade with 12. Her 2024 season seemed impossible in the modern game dominated by parity, where she won six tournaments in seven starts, including five in a row. She won seven times in general with one major. She has one Player of the Year award but probably should have two, as her 2021 where she won four times including a major was the best season any player had that year. She’s also a strong Solheim Cup performer and has an Olympic Gold Medal from Tokyo on her mantle. Other players may close this gap in time, but for now, it is hard to say anyone else.
Honorable Mentions: Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, Jeeno Thitikul
