The history of professional golf is rich with legendary figures, and the women’s game has produced some of the most dominant, charismatic, and groundbreaking athletes the sport has ever known. These are the titans who not only mastered the game but also built the LPGA Tour from the ground up, inspiring millions of women and girls to pick up a club.
Trying to rank them is an impossible task. Instead, this is a celebration of ten incredible legends who, through their unparalleled skill and profound impact, have shaped the history of women’s golf. Presented in chronological order, this expanded list honors the evolution of the sport, offering a closer look at the careers, accolades, and unique quirks of golf’s greatest icons.
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#1 Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956)
Arguably the greatest female athlete of all time, Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias was a sheer force of nature. Before she ever picked up a golf club, she was a world-class track and field star. She was a co-founder of the LPGA Tour in 1950 and served as its biggest drawing card. Her raw athletic talent and showmanship drew massive crowds, single-handedly putting women’s professional golf on the map during its fragile early years.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 10 Major Championship Wins
- 41 LPGA Tour Wins
- Completed the career Grand Slam (winning all the available majors of her era).
- Named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year an incredible six times.
Fun Fact: Babe’s athletic prowess wasn’t just limited to golf and track. She was an All-American basketball player, an expert diver, a bowler, and even pitched in major league baseball spring training games! She was also an accomplished harmonica player who recorded music on the Mercury Records label.
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#2 Patty Berg (1918-2006)
A fellow co-founder and the very first president of the LPGA, Patty Berg was a fierce competitor and a lifelong ambassador for the game. Her record of 15 major championships is a benchmark of excellence that still stands today as the most in the history of women’s golf. She was the cornerstone of the tour for decades, and her relentless professionalism set the gold standard for generations of female golfers to come.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 15 Major Championship Wins (All-Time Record)
- 60 LPGA Tour Wins
- Winner of the inaugural U.S. Women’s Open in 1946.
- Three-time Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.
- Fun Fact: As a tomboy growing up in Minneapolis, Berg played quarterback on a neighborhood tackle football team. One of her teammates was future legendary college football coach Bud Wilkinson. Later in life, she also held one of the longest continuous endorsement contracts in sports history, representing Wilson Sporting Goods for 60 years.
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#3 Louise Suggs (1923-2015)
The third of the LPGA’s founding titans, Louise Suggs was known for her technically perfect golf swing and a steely, no-nonsense demeanor on the course. She was one of the tour’s most dominant early players, helping to establish the tour’s credibility through her world-class play and fierce rivalries with Babe Zaharias.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 11 Major Championship Wins
- 61 LPGA Tour Wins
- First woman to complete the career Grand Slam.
- Inducted into the inaugural class of the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1967.
- Fun Fact: Comedian Bob Hope famously gave Suggs the nickname “Miss Sluggs” because of how incredibly far she could hit the golf ball despite her relatively small stature.
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#4 Mickey Wright (1935-2020)
Many golf purists who saw her play will tell you that Mickey Wright had the most beautiful, powerful, and rhythmic golf swing they had ever seen—male or female. Wright was a quiet, deeply private person, but between the ropes, she was a relentless force. She carried the LPGA Tour on her shoulders in the late 50s and 60s, drawing crowds solely to watch her hit the ball.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 13 Major Championship Wins
- 82 LPGA Tour Wins (Second all-time)
- Won an astonishing 44 tournaments over a four-year stretch in the early 1960s.
- Held all four major championship titles simultaneously in 1961-1962.
- Fun Fact: Legendary golfer Ben Hogan, famously critical of almost everyone’s technique, openly stated that Mickey Wright’s swing was the single best swing he had ever seen.
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#5 Kathy Whitworth (1939-2022)
When it comes to pure winning, no one in the history of professional golf—man or woman—has won more officially recognized tournaments than Kathy Whitworth. Her staggering record of 88 LPGA Tour victories is a testament to her consistency, longevity, and sheer will to win. While she didn’t have a flashy personality, she was an unstoppable competitor who commanded respect from everyone in the sport.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 6 Major Championship Wins
- 88 LPGA Tour Wins (The all-time professional golf record)
- 7-time LPGA Player of the Year.
- Won at least one tournament in 17 consecutive seasons.
- Fun Fact: Despite winning 88 times on tour, Whitworth never managed to win the U.S. Women’s Open, making it the most famous “missing trophy” in golf history. She also started golf relatively late, picking up the game at age 15 using her grandmother’s old clubs.
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#6 Nancy Lopez (1957-Present)
What Arnold Palmer was to the men’s tour, Nancy Lopez was to the LPGA. With her infectious, glowing smile and incredible talent, she created a massive popularity boom for women’s golf in the late 1970s. As a 21-year-old rookie in 1978, she captivated the entire nation, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated and becoming a bona fide pop culture icon.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 3 Major Championship Wins
- 48 LPGA Tour Wins
- 4-time LPGA Player of the Year.
- The only player to win LPGA Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year, and the Vare Trophy (lowest scoring average) in the same season (1978).
- Fun Fact: During her legendary 1978 rookie season, she won nine tournaments in total, including a record-setting five consecutive events in a row!
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#7 Juli Inkster (1960-Present)
Juli Inkster is the ultimate icon of longevity in women’s golf. Her fierce competitiveness, immense talent, and ability to contend across multiple different eras of the sport make her an absolute legend. After a highly decorated amateur career, she turned pro and systematically dismantled the competition, all while managing to raise a family while competing at the highest level.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 7 Major Championship Wins
- 31 LPGA Tour Wins
- Completed the career Grand Slam.
- Most victorious American captain in Solheim Cup history.
- Fun Fact: Inkster holds an incredibly unique piece of golf history: she is the only woman to win two major championships in a decade for three consecutive decades (the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s).
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#8 Annika Sörenstam (1970-Present)
Annika Sörenstam is widely considered the undisputed GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of the modern era. The Swede’s peak from 2001-2005 was a display of absolute dominance rarely seen in any sport, winning 43 times in that span alone. With a powerful, metronomic swing, a revolutionary commitment to physical fitness, and a killer instinct, she completely redefined what was possible in women’s golf.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 10 Major Championship Wins
- 72 LPGA Tour Wins (Third all-time)
- 8-time LPGA Player of the Year (All-Time Record).
- Competed against the men on the PGA Tour at the 2003 Colonial.
Fun Fact: She is the only woman in history to shoot a sub-60 round in a professional tournament (a 59 in 2001), earning her the nickname “Ms. 59.” Ironically, as a highly successful junior golfer, Annika was so shy that she would intentionally miss putts at the end of tournaments so she wouldn’t have to give the winner’s speech!
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#9 Karrie Webb (1974-Present)
Hailing from Queensland, Australia, Karrie Webb was the dominant force who brilliantly bridged the gap between the Inkster era and the unstoppable rise of Annika Sörenstam. Known for her laser-focused intensity and phenomenal ball-striking, her fierce competitive spirit carried her to victory all over the globe, firmly cementing her place in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 7 Major Championship Wins
- 41 LPGA Tour Wins
- 3-time LPGA Player of the Year.
- Achieved the “Super Career Grand Slam” by winning five different tournaments recognized as majors.
- Fun Fact: Webb was so good, so young, that she qualified for the World Golf Hall of Fame by the age of 25, although she had to wait until she met the 10-year tour membership requirement to officially be inducted at age 30.
Disclaimer: These images are for reference purposes only and are AI-generated. They may not perfectly represent the specific subject or reflect real-world details.
#10 Lorena Ochoa (1981-Present)
While her career on the LPGA Tour was relatively short, Lorena Ochoa’s peak was nothing short of meteoric. The highly charismatic star from Mexico took the torch from Annika Sörenstam and dominated the sport in the late 2000s. She shocked the golf world by retiring at the absolute peak of her powers at age 28 to start a family, leaving fans to wonder just how many records she could have broken.
- Professional Highlights & Awards:
- 2 Major Championship Wins
- 27 LPGA Tour Wins
- 4-time LPGA Player of the Year.
- World No. 1 for a record 158 consecutive weeks.
Fun Fact: Ochoa won an astonishing 27 tournaments in just eight full seasons on tour. Today, she hosts the LPGA’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational in her hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Inspired by the Greats? It’s Your Turn to Play.
Reading about the legends who shaped golf history is the perfect inspiration to work on your own game. Every great round starts with a single swing, and there’s no better place to perfect yours than at Hideaway Hills.
Channel your inner Annika on the driving range, or sink a crucial putt like Nancy Lopez on our practice green.
Ready to create your own legendary moments? Call us at (610) 681-6000 to book your tee time.