Louise Suggs
| Louise Suggs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Full name | Mae Louise Suggs | ||||||||
| Born | September 7, 1923 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||||||||
| Residence | Delray Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||
| Career | |||||||||
| Turned professional | 1948 | ||||||||
| Former tour(s) | LPGA Tour (co-founder) | ||||||||
| Professional wins | 61 | ||||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||||
| LPGA Tour | 61 (4th all time) | ||||||||
| Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 11) | |||||||||
| Western Open | Won: 1946, 1947, 1949, 1953 | ||||||||
| Titleholders C'ship | Won: 1946, 1954, 1956, 1959 | ||||||||
| Chevron Championship | CUT: 1983 | ||||||||
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 1957 | ||||||||
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 1949, 1952 | ||||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Mae Louise Suggs (born September 7, 1923 - died August 6, 2015[1]) was an American professional golfer, one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf.
Amateur career
Born in Atlanta, Suggs had a very successful amateur career, beginning as a teenager. She won the Georgia State Amateur in 1940 at age 16 and again in 1942,[2] was the Southern Amateur Champion in 1941 and 1947,[3] and won the North and South Women's Amateur three times (1942, 1946, 1948).[4] She won the 1946 and 1947 Women's Western Amateur[5] and the 1946 and 1947 Women's Western Open, which was designated as a major championship when the LPGA was founded.[6] She also won the 1946 Titleholders Championship which was also subsequently designated as a women's major. She won the 1947 U.S. Women's Amateur and the next year won the British Ladies Amateur.[4] She finished her amateur career representing the U.S. on the 1948 Curtis Cup Team.[7]
Professional career
After her successful amateur career, she turned professional in 1948 and went on to win 58 professional tournaments, including 11 majors. Her prowess on the golf course is reflected in the fact that from 1950 to 1960 she was only once out of the top 3 in the season-ending money list.
Suggs was an inaugural inductee into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, established in 1967, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1979. She is also a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
She was one of the co-founders of the LPGA in 1950, which included her two great rivals of the time, Patty Berg and Babe Zaharias. Suggs served as the organization's president from 1955 to 1957.
Honors
The Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award, given annually to the most accomplished first-year player on the LPGA Tour, is named in her honor. In 2006 Suggs was named the 2007 recipient of the Bob Jones Award, given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In February 2015 she became one of the first female members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.[8]
Amateur wins
- 1940 Georgia Women's Amateur, Southern Women's Amateur
- 1942 Georgia Women's Amateur, North and South Women's Amateur
- 1946 North and South Women's Amateur, Women's Western Amateur
- 1947 Southern Women's Amateur, Women's Western Amateur, U.S. Women's Amateur
- 1948 North and South Women's Amateur, British Ladies Amateur
Professional wins
LPGA Tour wins (61)
- 1946 (2) Titleholders Championship, Women's Western Open (as an amateur), Pro-Lady Victory National Championship (as an amateur, with Ben Hogan)
- 1947 (1) Women's Western Open (as an amateur)
- 1948 (1) Belleair Open
- 1949 (4) U.S. Women's Open, Women's Western Open, All American Open, Muskegon Invitational
- 1950 (2) Chicago Weathervane, New York Weathervane
- 1951 (1) Carrollton Georgia Open
- 1952 (6) Jacksonville Open, Tampa Open, Stockton Open, U.S. Women's Open, All American Open, Betty Jameson Open
- 1953 (9) Tampa Open, Betsy Rawls Open, Phoenix Weathervane (tied with Patty Berg), San Diego Open, Bakersfield Open, San Francisco Weathervane, Philadelphia Weathervane, 144 Hole Weathervane, Women's Western Open
- 1954 (5) Sea Island Open, Titleholders Championship, Betsy Rawls Open, Carrollton Georgia Open, Babe Zaharias Open
- 1955 (5) Los Angeles Open, Oklahoma City Open, Eastern Open, Triangle Round Robin, St. Louis Open
- 1956 (3) Havana Open, Titleholders Championship, All American Open
- 1957 (2) LPGA Championship, Heart of America Invitational
- 1958 (4) Babe Zaharias Open, Gatlinburg Open, Triangle Round Robin, French Lick Open
- 1959 (3) St. Petersburg Open, Titleholders Championship, Dallas Civitan Open
- 1960 (4) Dallas Civitan Open, Triangle Round Robin, Youngstown Kitchens Trumbull Open, San Antonio Civitan
- 1961 (7) Naples Pro-Am, Royal Poinciana Invitational, Golden Circle of Golf Festival, Dallas Civitan Open, Kansas City Open, San Antonio Civitan, Sea Island Open
- 1962 (1) St. Petersburg Open
LPGA majors are shown in bold.
Major championships
Wins (11)
| Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Titleholders Championship | +14 (80-77-77-80=314) | 2 strokes |  Eileen Stulb
|
| 1946 | Women's Western Open | 2 up | Patty Berg
| |
| 1947 | Women's Western Open | 4 & 2 | Dorothy Kirby (a)
| |
| 1949 | U.S. Women's Open | −9 (69-75-77-70=291) | 14 strokes | Babe Zaharias
|
| 1949 | Women's Western Open | 5 & 4 | Betty Jameson
| |
| 1952 | U.S. Women's Open | +8 (70-69-70-75=284) | 7 strokes | Marlene Hagge, Betty Jameson
|
| 1953 | Women's Western Open | 6 & 5 | Patty Berg
| |
| 1954 | Titleholders Championship | +5 (73-71-76-73=293) | 7 strokes | Patty Berg
|
| 1956 | Titleholders Championship | +14 (78-75-75-74=302) | 1 stroke | Patty Berg
|
| 1957 | LPGA Championship | +5 (69-74-74-68=285) | 3 strokes | Wiffi Smith
|
| 1959 | Titleholders Championship | +9 (78-73-75-71=297) | 1 stroke | Betsy Rawls
|
(a)=Amateur
Team appearances
Amateur
- Curtis Cup (representing the United States): 1948 (winners)
See also
- Women’s Career Grand Slam Champion
- List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
- List of golfers with most LPGA major championship wins
References
- ^ LGPA, Louise Suggs passes at 91
- ^ "History of the GWGA". GWGA (Georgia Women's Golf Association). Retrieved 2007-04-15.
- ^ "WSGA Champions 1911 - 2004". WSGA (Women's Southern Golf Association). Retrieved 2007-04-15.
- ^ a b "Louise Suggs Full Career Bio" (PDF). LPGA (LPGA Tour). Retrieved 2007-04-15.
- ^ "Amateur Championship Winners 1901-2003". Women's Western Golf Association. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
- ^ "Women's Western Open - Winners". About Golf. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
- ^ "Previous Curtis Cup Matches 1932-2002". USGA (United States Golf Association). Retrieved 2007-04-15.
- ^ "Princess Royal among first women to join St Andrews". BBC Sport. February 10, 2015.
External links
- Louise Suggs at the LPGA Tour official site
- Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
- Louise Suggs biography at About.com
Template:Female golfers who have won two or more Major Championships in one year
- American female golfers
- LPGA Tour golfers
- Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships
- Winners of LPGA major golf championships
- World Golf Hall of Fame inductees
- Golfers from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Golfers from Florida
- Sportspeople from Atlanta, Georgia
- Sportspeople from Delray Beach, Florida
- 1923 births
- 2015 deaths