San Diego, California
1964
82
13
Five-time Vare Trophy recipient (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964)
1976
Widely regarded as having one of the greatest golf swings of all time, Mickey Wright turned professional in 1954 and joined the LPGA Tour in 1955. During her tenure, Wright carded 82 Tour wins, the second most of all time, as well as 13 major championships, also the second most of all time. Her majors included the 1958, 1960, 1961, and 1963 KPMG Women’s PGA Championships, the 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1964 U.S. Women’s Opens, the 1961 and 1962 Titleholders Championships, and the 1962, 1963, and 1966 Women’s Western Opens.
Wright won the Vare Trophy five times from 1960 to 1964 and was the LPGA Tour’s leading money winner from 1961 and 1964. She also finished in the top ten in money thirteen other times. Mickey carded a win each season for 14 straight seasons from 1956 to 1969 and shares the record for most U.S. Women’s Opens won with Betsy Rawls at four.
Wright is also the only player in LPGA history to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship four times and she completed the Career Grand Slam in 1962. Mickey holds the record for most wins in a single season with 13 as well as the record for the youngest player to reach 30, 40, and 50 wins along with the record for fastest player to reach 30 wins. She served as LPGA president from 1961 to 1964.
Wright was given the Los Angeles Times Sports Award for 1960-1961 and was named the Associated Press’ Woman Athlete of the Year in 1964 as well as the GWA Putter of the Year in 1964. Mickey was one of the six inaugural inductees into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1967 and was given the Babe Zaharias Award in 1980. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1976.
She was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and was named Golfer of the Decade for 1958-1967 in 1988. Wright became a member of the California Golf Writers Association Hall of Fame and was a honoree at the Memorial Tournament in 1994. The Associated Press recognized Mickey as the Female Golfer of the Century and was named a member of the 2000 Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame, the 2007 Southern California Golf Association Hall of Fame, and the 2017 PGA of America Hall of Fame.
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