Minneapolis, Minnesota
1951
60
15
Three-time Vare Trophy winner (1953, 1955, 1956), 2000 LPGA Commissioner’s Award
1974
Patty Berg is among one of the most recognizable names in women’s golf. Before turning professional in 1940, Berg won a slew of titles as an amateur, including the 1937, 1938, and 1939 Titleholders Championship, the 1938 U.S. Women’s Amateur, and the 1938 Women’s Western Amateur. Her performance in ‘38 resulted in Patty winning the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award, the first of three times she would do so.
Berg turned professional in 1940 but didn’t really begin to play until 1943 – a car accident in 1941 shattered her knee derailing her golf for a couple of years. She won the 1943 Women’s Western Open and three years later won the very first U.S. Women’s Open in 1946. Patty was one of the 13 founders of the LPGA and the Tour’s first president when it was created in 1950.
Berg notched 60 LPGA Tour victories in total with 15 major championships to her credit, the most of all time. In addition to her single U.S. Women’s Open title, her other 14 major wins include the 1937, 1938, 1939, 1948, 1953, 1955 and 1957 Titleholders Championships and the 1941, 1943, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1957, and 1958 Women’s Western Opens. She won the Vare Trophy in 1953, 1955, and 1956 for the season’s lowest scoring average.
Patty is a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame and joined the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame in 1958, the PGA of America Hall of Fame in 1978, the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, and the All-American Collegiate Hall of Fame in 1991. Berg was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. She won the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year Award two more times in 1943 and 1955, the William D. Richardson Award in 1960, the Bob Jones Award in 1963, and the Ben Hogan and Joe Graffis Awards in 1975. Patty was also recognized with the Old Tom Morris Award in 1986, the Sprint Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, the Distinguished Achievement Award from The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation in 2005. Berg is also a member of the LPGA T&CP Hall of Fame and won the 2000 Commissioner’s Award along with her fellow founders.
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