Women's major golf championships
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Women's golf has evolved a set of major championships which parallels that in men's golf, but the women's system is younger and has been less stable than the men's. Many professional strokeplay events for women are played over three rounds (54 holes), but the majors are played over four rounds (72 holes), which is the standard length of regular men's tournaments. This is the same distinction as for senior men's tournaments.
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[edit] LPGA majors
[edit] Current position
The LPGA's list of majors has changed several times over the years, with the last change in 2001, after the du Maurier Classic, held in Canada, lost its primary sponsorship after that country passed severe restrictions on tobacco advertising. The tournament, now known as the Canadian Women's Open, is still a regular event on the LPGA tour, but has a much lower profile. The LPGA replaced the du Maurier Classic on its list of majors with the Women's British Open. The LPGA currently recognizes four majors. In the order in which they are played each year these are:
As in men's golf, three of the majors are played in the United States and one is played in the United Kingdom. The U.S. and British Opens match their male equivalents, and the LPGA Championship is analogous to the PGA Championship, so by default the Kraft Nabisco Championship is the closest equivalent of The Masters. Unlike the men's equivalents, with the sole exception of the U.S. Women's Open, the women's majors have title sponsors.
[edit] History
Seven different events are classified as having been LPGA majors at some time. The number in each season has fluctuated between two and four. The first tournament which is now included in the LPGA's official list of major victories is the 1930 Western Open, although this is a retrospective designation as the LPGA was not founded until 1950.
- Western Open: 1930-1967
- Titleholders Championship: 1937-42; 1946-66; 1972
- U.S. Women's Open: 1950-date
- LPGA Championship: 1955-date
- du Maurier Classic: 1979-2000
- Kraft Nabisco Championship: 1983-date
- Women's British Open: 2001-date
[edit] LPGA major winners
The first table shows the four current majors in the order in which they are played each year. The two tables for the earlier periods do not necessarily show the tournaments in the order in which they were played.
| Year | Kraft Nabisco Championship | LPGA Championship | U.S. Women's Open | Women's British Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 |  Morgan Pressel |
|||
| 2006 |  Karrie Webb |
 Se Ri Pak |
 Annika Sörenstam |
Sherri Steinhauer |
| 2005 | Annika Sörenstam |
Annika Sörenstam |
Birdie Kim |
Jeong Jang |
| 2004 | Grace Park |
Annika Sörenstam |
Meg Mallon |
 Karen Stupples |
| 2003 |  Patricia Meunier-Lebouc |
Annika Sörenstam |
Hilary Lunke |
Annika Sörenstam |
| 2002 | Annika Sörenstam |
Se Ri Pak |
Juli Inkster |
Karrie Webb |
| 2001 | Annika Sörenstam |
Karrie Webb |
Karrie Webb |
Se Ri Pak |
| Year | Women's Western Open | LPGA Championship | U.S. Women's Open | Titleholders Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Ceased | Kathy Ahern |
Susie Berning |
Sandra Palmer |
| 1971 | Ceased | Kathy Whitworth |
JoAnne Carner |
No tournament |
| 1970 | Ceased | Shirley Englehorn |
Donna Caponi |
No tournament |
| 1969 | Ceased | Betsy Rawls |
Donna Caponi |
No tournament |
| 1968 | Ceased |  Sandra Post |
Susie Berning |
No tournament |
| 1967 | Kathy Whitworth |
Kathy Whitworth |
Catherine Lacoste |
No tournament |
| 1966 | Mickey Wright |
Gloria Ehret |
Sandra Spuzich |
Kathy Whitworth |
| 1965 | Susie Maxwell |
Sandra Haynie |
Carol Mann |
Kathy Whitworth |
| 1964 | Carol Mann |
Mary Mills |
Mickey Wright |
Marilynn Smith |
| 1963 | Mickey Wright |
Mickey Wright |
Mary Mills |
Marilynn Smith |
| 1962 | Mickey Wright |
Judy Kimball |
Murle Lindstrom |
Mickey Wright |
| 1961 | Mary Lena Faulk |
Mickey Wright |
Mickey Wright |
Mickey Wright |
| 1960 | Joyce Ziske |
Mickey Wright |
Betsy Rawls |
 Fay Crocker |
| 1959 | Betsy Rawls |
Betsy Rawls |
Mickey Wright |
Louise Suggs |
| 1958 | Patty Berg |
Mickey Wright |
Mickey Wright |
Beverly Hanson |
| 1957 | Patty Berg |
Louise Suggs |
Betsy Rawls |
Patty Berg |
| 1956 | Beverly Hanson |
Marlene Hagge |
Kathy Cornelius |
Louise Suggs |
| 1955 | Patty Berg |
Beverly Hanson |
Fay Crocker |
Patty Berg |
| 1954 | Betty Jameson |
Not yet founded | Babe Zaharias |
Louise Suggs |
| 1953 | Louise Suggs |
Not yet founded | Betsy Rawls |
Patty Berg |
| 1952 | Betsy Rawls |
Not yet founded | Louise Suggs |
Babe Zaharias |
| 1951 | Patty Berg |
Not yet founded | Betsy Rawls |
Pat O'Sullivan |
| 1950 | Babe Zaharias |
Not yet founded | Babe Zaharias |
Babe Zaharias |
| 1949 | Louise Suggs |
Not yet founded | Louise Suggs |
Peggy Kirk |
| 1948 | Patty Berg |
Not yet founded | Babe Zaharias |
Patty Berg |
| 1947 | Louise Suggs |
Not yet founded | Betty Jameson |
Babe Zaharias |
| 1946 | Louise Suggs |
Not yet founded | Patty Berg |
Louise Suggs |
| 1945 | Babe Zaharias |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | No tournament (World War II) |
| 1944 | Babe Zaharias |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | No tournament (World War II) |
| 1943 | Patty Berg |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | No tournament (World War II) |
| 1942 | Betty Jameson |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Dorothy Kirby |
| 1941 | Patty Berg |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Dorothy Kirby |
| 1940 | Babe Zaharias |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Betty Hicks |
| 1939 | Helen Dettweiler |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Patty Berg |
| 1938 | Bea Barrett |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Patty Berg |
| 1937 | Betty Hicks |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Patty Berg |
| 1936 | Opal Hill |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Not yet founded |
| 1935 | Opal Hill |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Not yet founded |
| 1934 | Marian McDougall |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Not yet founded |
| 1933 | June Beebe |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Not yet founded |
| 1932 | Jane Weiller |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Not yet founded |
| 1931 | June Beebe |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Not yet founded |
| 1930 | Mrs. Lee Mida |
Not yet founded | Not yet founded | Not yet founded |
[edit] The "Grand Slam"
No woman has completed a four-major Grand Slam, but Babe Zaharias won all three majors contested in 1950 and Sandra Haynie won both majors in 1974.
Six women have completed a "Career grand slam" by winning four different majors. There are variations in the set of four tournaments involved as the players played in different eras. The six are: Pat Bradley; Juli Inkster; Annika Sörenstam; Louise Suggs; Karrie Webb; and Mickey Wright.
[edit] Other regular tours
In men's golf, the four majors are agreed globally. All the principal tours acknowledge the status of the majors via their sponsorship of the Official World Golf Rankings, and the prize money is official on the three richest regular tours (the PGA, European, and Japanese tours). This is not the case in women's golf, but the significance of this is limited, as the LPGA Tour is much more dominant in women's golf than the PGA Tour is in men's golf. For example, the BBC has been known to use the LPGA definition of women's majors without qualifying it. Also, the Ladies' Golf Union, the governing body for women's golf in the UK and Republic of Ireland and the organiser of the Women's British Open, states on its official site that the Women's British Open is "the only Women’s Major to be played outside the U.S."[1]
The Ladies European Tour does not sanction any of the LPGA majors which are played in the United States, and only has two events which it designates as majors on its schedule, namely the Women's British Open and the Evian Masters, which is played in France. However, the Ladies European Tour tacitly acknowledges the dominance of the LPGA Tour by not scheduling any of its events to conflict with any of the LPGA majors played in the U.S. Also, while the LPGA Tour does not recognize the Evian Masters as a major, it co-sanctions the tournament as a regular tour event; since it is played the week before the Women's British Open, virtually all top LPGA players play the Evian Masters.
The LPGA of Japan Tour, which is the second richest women's golf tour, has its own set of three majors: the Japan Open, the JLPGA Championship and the JLPGA Tour Championship. However, these events attract little notice outside Japan.
[edit] Futures Tour
Since 2006, the Futures Tour, the LPGA's developmental tour, has designated the Michelob Ultra Futures Charity Golf Classic, an event which has been held since 1985, as a major championship. It was the Tour's first $100,000 purse. The idea of having a "major" on a developmental tour is a new one, driven by marketing, and it is unlikely to have much impact on the conventional definition of a women's major.
[edit] Women's senior golf
Professional women's senior golf is in its infancy, and does not yet have a roster of majors. The Legends Tour, originally the Women's Senior Golf Tour, played its first season in 2001.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Women's British Open breaks new ground at St Andrews. Ladies' Golf Union. Retrieved on April 1, 2007.
[edit] See also
- Golfers with most LPGA major championship wins
- Chronological list of LPGA major golf champions
- Men's major golf championships
- Senior major golf championships
