Sybase Match Play Championship celebrates LPGA golfers by naming brackets

Sybase Match Play Championship and the LPGA are celebrating the careers of Annika Sorenstam, Mickey Wright, Kathy Whitworth and Patty Berg by naming the brackets after the lady golfers with the most career wins in history.

The tournament’s number one seed will be placed in the Whitworth Group, while the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds will be placed in the Wright Group, Sorenstam Group and Berg Group, respectively. All first-round matches will be drawn at a special media event at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18.

Hamilton Farm Golf Club in New Jersey will be the setting for this exciting event. Sixty-four of the top LPGA golfers will compete in match-play format for a purse of 1.5 million dollars.

This honor is probably as exciting as the ladies getting stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and well-deserved!

The new LPGA commissioner, Mike Whan, is sure to draw pats on the back for his thoughtful gesture as he commented, "As we celebrate 60 years of the LPGA, we salute the four champions of our sport with the most wins in LPGA history."


Here is a brief history lesson of these four great female athletes:


Kathy Whitworth
*Won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments in a career which spanned four decades, more than any other player in the history of the game, male or female.
*Six major championships including seven Player of the Year awards, seven Vare Trophies and eight money list titles.
*She still holds the record for the most consecutive seasons with a win at seventeen and records the most career seasons with a victory at 22.

Mickey Wright
*82 wins and 13 major championships in her career.
*The only player to win four LPGA Championships
*One of only two players to win the U.S. Women’s Open four times.
*She still holds numerous all-time records, including the most wins in one season with thirteen.
*Only player in LPGA history to ever hold all four major championship trophies at the same time.
*She won the final two major championships of the 1961 season, the U.S. Women’s Open and the LPGA Championship and the first two majors of 1962, the Titleholders and the Western Open.

Annika Sorenstam
*Won 70 times with 10 major championships.
*Eight Rolex Player of the Year Awards
*Six Vare Trophies
*Led the LPGA Money List eight times.
*The only LPGA player to ever shoot 59 in an official tour event
*First LPGA player since Babe Zaharias to compete in a PGA Tour event when she played in the 2003 Bank of America Colonial.
*The only player in LPGA history to sweep the Player of the Year, Vare Trophy and Money List title five times.

Patty Berg
*One of the 13 Founders of the LPGA
*Won 60 LPGA titles and a record 15 major championships
*Seven Western Open titles, seven Titleholders Championships, and one U.S. Women’s Open, the only time it was played as a match-play event.
*Led the LPGA money list three times, and three times she won the Vare Trophy. In 1955, she became the first LPGA player to achieve both honors.
*In 1978, the LPGA established the Patty Berg Award to reward outstanding contributions to women's golf, to honor Patty Berg and to recognize her diplomacy, sportsmanship, goodwill and contributions to the game.


If Babe Didrikson Zaharias could only see how far the LPGA has come! Did you know Babe met her husand, wrestler George Zaharias, while playing golf in a PGA tournament? Babe's participation in a men's event was sixty years prior to Annika Sorenstam, Suzy Whaley or Michelle Wie's attempts!


And yes, The Sybase Match Play event will be aired on television but sadly not on Network TV. Visit LPGA.com for more details.

Also, we are sorry to earn about the passing of LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg. Only 25 years old, she had much more golf to play.



About the Ladies Professional Golf Association

The LPGA was founded in 1950 and today boasts a membership comprised of world-class LPGA Tour professionals and more than 1,300 dedicated Teaching and Club Professionals (T&CP). Players on the LPGA Tour, who represent more than 25 countries, compete globally showcasing the very best of women’s professional golf.

LPGA T&CP members directly impact the growth of the game through teaching, coaching and management positions and oversee programs aimed at increasing the involvement of women, girls and youth in golf. The LPGA’s Vision is to inspire, empower, educate and entertain by showcasing the best golf professionals in the world. Its Mission is to be a leader in the world of sports, to promote economic empowerment for all members, and to serve as role models on and off the course.