It’s still a shock that Mickey Wright is gone. There’s so much to celebrate about her legendary career. Let’s start with 1963, a year in which she dominated the tour in mind-blowing fashion. Wright won 13 times that season, including two majors, setting an LPGA record that stands today. But the 40.6 winning percentage that year tells only part of the story.
Wright competed in 28 of the 32 official events that season. She recorded 23 top-3 finishes and placed in the top five 24 times. She finished outside the top 10 only once in ’63, a tie for 29th at the Rock City Ladies Open. Wright’s 27 top-10 finishes in 28 starts set a record that stands today. She won $31,269 for her efforts.
Rhonda Glenn, a friend and golf historian, wrote in her book “The Illustrated History of Women’s Golf,” that Wright dealt with the extreme pressure of that season by sneaking off to art galleries and wandering around unnoticed, getting lost in the Impressionist paintings that she loved.
“I hate to lose,” Wright told Glenn. “The perfectionist bit in golf doesn’t have as much to do with doing it perfectly as the total rejection and horror of doing it badly. And I don’t know which comes first, or which is more important. Winning never really crossed my mind that much. It’s trite, but I knew if I did it as well as I could, I would win. If I did it as well as I could, it would have been better than anybody else did it, and therefore I would win.
“… I look back on it like it’s somebody else. It’s like a dream, another life. What amazes me is that I could have done it as long as I did.”
Wright won 60 titles before her 30th birthday. She retired from full-time competition in 1969 at age 34 with 13 major championships. She ranks second on the all-time victory list with 82 titles, six behind Kathy Whitworth.
Mickey Wright’s official LPGA wins in 1963:
- February 1-3 Sea Island Women’s Invitational, Sea Island GC, Sea Island, Georgia, $6,000
- February 7-10 St. Petersburg Women’s Open, Sunset GC, St. Petersburg, Florida, $15,500
- May 10-12 Alpine Civitan Open, Alexandria CC, Alexandria, Louisiana, $7,500
- May 16-19 Muskogee Civitan Open, Muskogee CC, Muskogee, Oklahoma, $8,000
- May 23-26 Dallas Civitan Open, Glen Lakes CC, Dallas, Texas, $13,000
- May 31-June 2 Babe Zaharias Open, Beaumont CC, Beaumont, Texas, $8,000
- June 20-23 Women’s Western Open, Maple Bluff CC, Madison, Wisconsin, $7,500*
- August 9-11 Waterloo Women’s Open Invitational, Sunnyside CC, Waterloo, Iowa, $7,500
- August 16-18 Albuquerque Swing Parade, Paradise Hills CC, Albuquerque, New Mexico, $10,000
- August 31-September 2 Idaho Centennial Ladies’ Open, Hillcrest CC, Boise, Idaho, $7,500
- September 19-22 Visalia Ladies’ Open, Visalia CC, Visalia, California, $10,000
- September 27-29 Mickey Wright Invitational, La Jolla CC, La Jolla, California, $9,000
- October 10-13 LPGA Championship, Stardust CC, Las Vegas, Nevada, $16,500*
* major championship
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