Lydia Ko now stands one point away from qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame. She’d be the 35th member of the LPGA Hall, nine of which are honorary members. Only 25 players have met the Hall’s requirements.
The LPGA Hall remains one of the most exclusive in all of sports. Players must reach 27 points to get in: (one point for each regular LPGA victory; two for a major win; one point each for the LPGA Rolex Player of the Year and Vare Trophy awards; and one point for an Olympic gold medal).
In addition to having 27 points, players must also either win an LPGA major, Vare Trophy or Player of the Year honors.
The 27-point threshold was actually lowered in the late 1990s when it looked like some of the greatest to ever play the game weren’t going to get in under the old system that required 30 LPGA victories with two major championships, or 35 with one major, or 40 with no majors.
Even so, there are a number of players even hard-core fans might be surprised aren’t in the LPGA Hall, though many are in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Here’s a list of 10 decorated players still on the outside looking in:
At Golfweek, we continue to send live bodies on the road at events throughout the year.
Between COVID, advances in technology and myriad other factors, golf beat reporting just isn’t what it once was. Media centers have fewer and fewer members, Zoom calls and transcripts make it easier to keep tabs on players and tournaments from afar and player availability has become increasingly more difficult to secure as many pros (and some college players) are being pulled in numerous directions by sponsors and other responsibilities.
At Golfweek, we continue to send live bodies on the road at events throughout the year — on the PGA Tour, LPGA, LIV, USGA championships, amateur and college events, as well as silly-season tournaments.
Through the hard work of reporters like Adam Schupak, Beth Ann Nichols, Adam Woodard and Cameron Jourdan, we secured a number of great Q&As in 2023 away from the media scrums and online pressers, getting a deeper look at some of the most fascinating personalities that make this game great.
Here’s a look at some of our favorites, in no particular order:
What does this grande dame of the stick and ba’ game make of the current state of pro golf?
The swingin’ 60s? Well, maybe not quite.
“I’m not enjoying playing at all,” sighed Dame Laura Davies with a self-deprecating chuckle as she mulled over the state of her game at 60-years-young.
The 2024 AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews could provide a wonderful swansong for this decorated, celebrated champion but Davies herself won’t allow sentiment, and the prospect of a dewy-eyed, visor-doffing last hurrah over the Swilcan Bridge, to cloud her judgement.
“Next year will be the final one of my exemption, but at the moment I don’t think I can tee up,” reflected Davies, who was the guest of honour at the PGA in Scotland’s annual glass-clinking luncheon in Glasgow on Wednesday.
“I’m playing in a few senior events before then and if I show any signs of encouragement at all then I might play. But I don’t want to take someone’s spot. It would be lovely to walk over the bridge on the 18th but not at 35-over-par. It won’t be as much fun.”
About those who left for LIV
It’s all fun and games, meanwhile, in the wider world of golf at the moment. Jon Rahm’s colossal deal with LIV Golf – yes, you can roll your eyes again – has had the kind of earth-shattering impact you’d get with a nuclear weapons test.
So, what does this grande dame of the stick and ba’ game make of the current situation?
“It just goes to show that everyone has their price,” she said. “The trouble is for these players going to LIV is that there are guys going to fill their boots who are very good players. We’ve already got Ludvig Aberg coming through, another superstar in the making.
“And look at Cam Smith? Would anyone actually know how he is doing with LIV and that he was the Open champion before he went? Nobody really knows how he plays any more.
“Don’t get me wrong. If anyone offered me that kind of money, I’d be there. I’m not criticizing them, but they are easily replaced. Maybe people won’t think about Jon Rahm eventually?”
As for Davies actually sitting down and watching any of LIV Golf’s 54-hole product? She’d probably be more interested in gazing at a bucket of soot.
“I’m not interested in the three rounds or the shotgun start,” she added. “As a sports fan, I like 72-hole championship golf where you finish on the 18th, not the fifth. LIV is not for me.”
Davies was making hay in a different financial era.
Laura Davies and John Daly at the 1998 JC Penney Classic in Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. (Photo: Vincent Laforet/Allsport)
“My biggest check was $240,000 and that was at the JC Penney event with John Daly in 1999,” she reflected. “I think most of my checks on the LPGA were between $60,000 and $90,000 for winning. In the women’s game especially, it has all changed for the better and good luck to them. I’m not envious of these girls one bit as I love to see it.”
With 87 worldwide wins, including four majors, Davies has such a haul of silverware, her mantelpiece is probably the size of the Hoover Dam.
In the team environment, meanwhile, the Solheim Cup would always stir the senses.
“1992 at Dalmahoy is probably my best memory in Scotland,” she said of an against-the-odds European win over a star-studded American team.
“I still think it’s hugely underrated. If you look back over the last 50 years of sport, it’s one the biggest upsets. I think 10 of the U.S. players were all Hall of Famers. We were just a bunch of players who pretty much turned pro in the four or five years earlier and we beat them. Incredible.”
Pearls of wisdom
Davies continues to offer her pearls of wisdom as a broadcaster of both the men’s and women’s game. One wonders what Joey Barton, the former footballer and full-time crank who has made a series of withering, stone age observations about female football commentators, would make of it all?
“I’m a big fan of the fact that if you’ve been there and done it (in any sport) you can talk about it,” said Davies. “Trish Johnson, Dottie Pepper, Morgan Pressel. All the girls who do golf, they’re all multiple winners and major champions. It’s not at the power level of men’s golf but the pressure is no different. I don’t know why Joey would say something like that?”
After a rapid-fire chinwag, it was time for Davies to receive her PGA recognition award.
“I always loved being the certain of attention on the course … but not off it,” she said with a wry smile.
A marquee major championship venue and the need for a dominant player highlight our 2024 LPGA wish list.
Looking ahead to 2024, it’s once again easy to focus on premiere venues and events on the upcoming LPGA schedule. For starters, it’s an Olympic year and a Solheim Cup year, which means there’s plenty to play for beyond the week-to-week grind. Every shot builds toward making a team or the trip to Paris.
And, once again, there’s a jewel on the 2024 major championship rota that’s a household name among non-golfers: the Old Course at St. Andrews. Surely something magical is in store for the third playing of the AIG Women’s British Open on the historic track.
Here’s a look at five things we’d like to see on the LPGA in 2024:
The winningest player in Solheim Cup history, Davies was part of every European team from 1990-2011.
Laura Davies returns to the Solheim Cup for a third time in the role of vice captain. The winningest player in the history of the biennial event with a record 25 points, Davies was part of every European team from the inaugural event in 1990 to 2011.
A 20-time winner on the LPGA, Davies owns 87 professional titles worldwide. The 59-year-old entered four LPGA events this year as well as the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, which she won in 2018.
Golfweek caught up with Davies before she heads to Spain next week to assist captain Suzann Pettersen. The event will take place on Spanish soil for the first time at Finca Corestin, Sept. 22-24. Team Europe, winners of the last two editions, has never won three in a row.
Entries open for the 78th U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach next Wednesday.
Entries open for the 78th U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach next Wednesday, which means the most highly-anticipated women’s golf event of the year is drawing near. Golf fans get to watch the men compete every year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, as well as the occasional U.S. Open, but July 5-9 will be the first time the best females in the world take on the iconic course.
Once entries open, players also have the chance to apply for a special exemption. Those are few and far between, of course. Patty Berg received the first special exemption back in 1977, as well as ones in 1978 and 1979.
Juli Inkster is also a three-time recipient, landing special exemptions in 1983, 1994 and 2013. It’s doubtful that Inkster, a two-time USWO winner who hails from Northern California, would get a fourth exemption, but don’t be surprised to see the 62-year-old try to qualify.
Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr received special exemptions in 2021 at The Olympic Club. It would be surprising to see either player receive a second one.
Annika Sorenstam would be a no-brainer to receive a special exemption. The three-time USWO winner has never asked for a special exemption. She played last year at Pine Needles after earning her way in with victory at the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
Sorenstam, of course, came up short at last year’s USSWO and said that she didn’t plan to play as much in 2023. She would have to officially request the exemption for Pebble (which the USGA would certainly green-light), but hasn’t yet decided.
Rose Zhang, a former U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, is exempt into the USWO after winning the Mark H. McCormack Medal for top amateur a third time. However, should the Stanford player choose to turn professional after the NCAA Championship, she would no longer be exempt. Zhang could always go through qualifying, but it’s worth noting that Michelle Wie West received a special exemption both as an amateur and a young professional before joining the LPGA.
Inkster, a three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, also received her first special exemption shortly after turning professional as did two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Vicki Goetze-Ackerman (1993).
Laura Davies, 59, has expressed a desire to play at Pebble Beach, noting at last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open that she might try to qualify. Davies, winner of the 1987 USWO and 2018 U.S. Senior Women’s Open, received a special exemption in 2009. The first British player to win the championship, Davies’ victory caused the LPGA to change its constitution, giving her automatic membership.
Of course, special exemptions aren’t given out every year. From 2010 to 2012, no player received one. The same was true for 2022.
Here’s a list of of the players who received special exemptions from 2000 to 2021:
On Thursday, September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96.
“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
The first three winners of the championship are 1, 2 and 3 on the leaderboard.
KETTERING, Ohio – It’s a party of past champions at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, where there’s nothing left to prove but much to gain.
Laura Davies, the first to win the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, carded a bogey-free dream round of 5-under 68 to take a share of the lead at 4-under 215, with Helen Alfredsson, whose roller-coaster day didn’t settle down til she signed for a 75. Alfredsson won the second edition of the Senior Women’s Open.
Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam, last year’s runaway champion, was down by as many as six strokes Saturday afternoon but finished the day within one. Sorenstam’s eventful round of even par had five bogeys – including a three-putt from 5 feet on No. 6 – and five birdies.
“I felt very jittery,” said Sorenstam. “I felt very uncomfortable. I couldn’t really find anything. I felt like I had 10 cups of coffee, and I haven’t had coffee all week.”
Davies hobbled into the media room early week with tape on her right Achilles heel, an injury suffered during a massage at the AIG Women’s British Open at Muirfield. While she withdrew from three events in the lead-up to NCR Country Club, Davies wasn’t about to miss this week, though the pain had moved to her calf muscle after walking funny for several weeks.
Davies began Saturday seven shots back but credited morning acupuncture treatment with helping improve her play. While it was still painful to walk, it no longer hurt to swing.
“The feelings are exactly the same,” said Davies of being back in contention for the first time in four years. “I can assure you it would feel no different if I was in contention on the LPGA. The job would probably be 10 times harder because instead of being one of the longer hitters. I’d be waving to Nelly (Korda) about 50 yards up the fairway and definitely Lexi (Thompson). So that’s slightly different. But the feelings and the being a bit scared on the first tee tomorrow for all the ones in contention, it will be the same for all of us.”
Annika Sorenstam plays her tee shot at the first hole during the third round at the 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at NCR Country Club (South Course) in Kettering, Ohio on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)
Many of the friendships, and the rivalries, this week at NCR are older than today’s stars on the LPGA.
Davies and Alfredsson met roughly four decades ago at a European Team Championship in Holland.
“She was so long, and we were like, ‘Who is this person?’” said Alfredsoon. “We were told to lay up, and by the time we hit our second shot we were at her drive, and it’s like, this is not working; we’ve got to figure out something. We’ve been friends ever since. I remember they won that year, and they had to perform something to ‘Thriller,’ and that was as bad as anything I’ve ever seen.”
Sorenstam will tee it up in the penultimate group alongside Jill McGill, a senior rookie who trials by one. McGill, 50, told her two kids, Blaze and Bella, that if she was in the top 10 after two rounds, they could fly up from Dallas for the weekend. They arrived late Friday night with dad.
Sorenstam and McGill were paired together in the final group of the 2002 U.S. Women’s Open at Prairie Dunes, won by Juli Inkster.
Only six players remain under par. Leta Lindley, another senior rookie who holds a share of third, will play alongside Catriona Matthew (1 under.)
Inkster, who has twice finished runner-up at this event, trails by five. No American player has ever won the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
The top 11 players on the leaderboard boast 14 USGA titles between them, and while tour golf is no longer part of their lives, the competitive juices still flow freely.
“I’m sure like the girls that play pickleball or tennis, they are no less competitive there,” said Alfredsson.
“Play backgammon against me, it’s the same. Here we are walking the dog and you see somebody in front of you, and it’s like, yeah, I can catch him. It’s so stupid, but it’s always part of you.”
The European Solheim Cup team will have plenty of experience leading it.
European Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen has named her three vice captains. The event’s next staging will be played September 2023 at Finca Cortesín in Casares, Spain.
Dame Laura Davies will once again serve as a vice captain along with Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Martens. Davies, who made 12 appearances in the Solheim as a competitor, served as vice captain under Catriona Matthew in two victorious showings in 2019 and 2021.
Nordqvist, a three-time major winner, has competed in the last seven editions, securing 15.5 points during that span. She has been on four winning teams and could potentially be a playing vice captain in Spain.
Matilda Castren of Team Europe and Anna Nordqvist of Team Europe at the Solheim Cup at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Martens, a close friend of Pettersen’s, competed on the LET for eight seasons.
Pettersen calls being named Solheim Cup captain the greatest honor of her career.
“I’m excited for what Caroline, Anna and Laura can bring to Team Europe as we look to defend the Cup on Spanish soil in the Costa del Sol,” said Pettersen in a release. “With all three of them by my side, I couldn’t ask for anything better, and I’m certain that they will be great for our team.”
U.S. captain Stacy Lewis has so far named Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel as two of her assistants. Team USA hasn’t won the Cup since 2017.
The documentary focuses on what built Sorenstam the champion, but also on how she was received by her peers.
There’s a moment early on in the new “Becoming ANNIKA” documentary when a young girl approaches the legend at a clinic and asks if she has any advice for competing against boys.
Sorenstam bent down to eye level and said, “Yes, you know you can beat them, right? You know that. Beat them. Be tough.”
Perhaps one day that youngster will grow to fully appreciate the beauty of that exchange. The new film, produced by NBC Sports in conjunction with the USGA, premieres on May 10 at 9 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank narrates and World Golf Hall of Famers Laura Davies, Juli Inkster and Nancy Lopez offer insight along with two-time major winner Dottie Pepper, former caddie Terry McNamara, USGA CEO Mike Whan and longtime journalist Ron Sirak, who covered Sorenstam’s LPGA career more thoroughly than anyone.
And, of course, Sorenstam’s family: doting husband Mike McGee, her parents Tom and Gunilla, children Will and Ava, and sister Charlotta all help tell the story of the 10-time major winner.
Mike McGee and Annika Sorenstam as seen during the Becoming Annika Premier at Sunrise Theater in the Southern Pines, N.C. on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (Copyright USGA/Jason E. Miczek)
“Watching a movie about yourself, it’s a bit surreal,” said Sorenstam, who viewed the film for the time alongside her husband at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines, North Carolina, last month during media day for the U.S. Women’s Open.
“It’s interesting to hear other people’s perspectives. Of course, I’ve spoken with my caddie many times and with my kids all the time, but for them to speak when I’m not there, the film just captures it all beautifully.”
Emmy Award-winning director Adrienne Gallagher began production of the film at the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open, won by Sorenstam. In January, the crew went to Sweden for 10 days to film where Sorenstam got started in the game and better understand the culture that shaped her.
The documentary focuses on what built Sorenstam the champion, of course, but also on how she was received by her peers.
“When you are winning a lot,” said Lopez, “it’s a shame that the players don’t think that’s really a good thing. I think women are tough on other women sometimes.”
Sorenstam acknowledged that she knew there was a lot of chatter in the locker room, a lot of whispers behind her back. Charlotta chalked it up to jealousy.
“This is kind of a harsh thing to say, but you don’t become taller by chopping someone else’s head off,” Sorenstam said in the film. “I honestly told myself I’m not here to make the most friends, I’m here to make the most out of my career.”
Adrienne Gallagher, Staci Green as seen during the Becoming Annika Premier at Sunrise Theater in the Southern Pines, N.C. on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (Copyright USGA/Jason E. Miczek)
Gallagher worked with an all-female production crew for the film and believes it made a difference in the way Sorenstam opened up about her divorce to David Esch.
“Dreams can be expensive,” said Gallagher. “The idea that she was achieving so much in her professional life and yet there was some profound emptiness.”
One of the most impactful sections of the film centers around Sorenstam’s son Will, who was born premature at 27 weeks. Will’s enthusiasm for his mom and the game is a big reason why the 51-year-old decided to compete in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles.
“Becoming ANNIKA” will also be shown on NBC on Sunday, June 5, ahead of final round coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open.
