Spain was such a high point, such fun and such a time to reflect. Every morning before light’s first shimmer turned the Mediterranean from black to indigo to blue – an outrageous hour by Spanish standards – LPGA Hall of Fame member and six-time major champion Pat Bradley marched from her rental unit on the Andalusian coast to a bus full of volunteers, player parents, media and staff for a 15-minute ride to Finca Cortesin and the 2023 Solheim Cup matches.
No matter the time of day or disposition of her fellow passengers, you could count on Pat to jar everyone awake with a hearty, “Morning!” which came out “Ma-nen,” in a Massachusetts accent that, while not quite extinct, is on the endangered species list.
She loves the matches, still, after all this time. What they have become and what they could be in the future is, for Pat, a microcosm of the women’s game. “What’s the old adage? Make the world a better place for the next generation,” she said. “If you look at the game today, my generation left it better for today’s players just like the generation before me left it better for us.”
Pat will be honored as an LPGA Pioneer at the upcoming Cognizant Founders Cup in
Upper Montclair, New Jersey, proceeds from which will benefit the LPGA*USGA Girls Golf programs. This is a significant milestone for a player who won 31 LPGA Tour events from 1976 to 1991. In 1986, Pat won three majors, and she captured the Vare Trophy and Rolex LPGA Player of the Year honors in both 1986 and 1991.