The legend of Wright grew because she was both immensely talented and private.
Mickey Wright would’ve been 89 today. The LPGA legend died of a heart attack on Feb. 17, 2020, three days after her 85th birthday. The fact that Wright’s birthday fell on Valentine’s Day seems fitting given that she possessed a golf swing that was so universally loved. Ben Hogan considered it the best in golf.
When Wright died, she left her entire estate to her beloved USGA, and asked that her ashes be placed beneath the bay window of the Mickey Wright Room, which opened in 2012. Wright never visited the room but kept a scrapbook of articles that were written about it.
The legend of Wright grew because she was both immensely talented and private.
Here are five things to love about one of golf’s great treasures:
True dominance on the LPGA might be a thing of the past. There was a time when Mickey Wright won a staggering 10 times or more over the course of four consecutive seasons.
It’s been a decade since a player has won more than five times in a single season. Yani Tseng was the last player to win seven times in 2011.
Compare that to Annika Sorenstam’s double-digit years or when Lorena Ochoa won six, eight and seven times from 2006 to 2008.
Is anyone capable of matching those efforts in the modern game?
As the tour gets deeper by the decade, here’s a closer look at most wins by year on the LPGA:
Some of the bronze plaques for the 176 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame are better than others.
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — It’s golf’s highest honor.
To be elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame is to be enshrined among the greatest. There have been only 176 men and women to be inducted in the Hall.
When the facility opened at World Golf Village in 1998, the members were commemorated with crystals but they were mounted in the floor and took up too much space for special events. So, the crystals were removed and bronze plaques replaced them. Some are better than others. According to the Florida Times Union, the plaques will not be relocated to Pinehurst, N.C., where the Hall will take up residency again in 2024.
Some of the plaques, it really helps to have the name written below it because the resemblance is minimal at best. See if you can name the Hall member.
The USGA Golf Museum and Library staff is comprised of all women as it promotes diversity and unity in the sport.
Hilary Cronheim can’t tell you how many times she’s received letters and emails with the greeting “Dear Mr. Director.”
But it’s not always that specific greeting. Sometimes her team is addressed as “gentlemen.”
That assumption isn’t only incorrect because Hilary Cronheim, director of the USGA Golf Museum and Library, isn’t a man. It’s also flawed because no one on the museum staff is male.
The USGA Golf Museum and Library located in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, is staffed entirely by women with Cronheim serving as director since 2019. The staff provides a glimpse of progress and inclusivity in a sport where women’s events and achievements largely don’t illicit the same treatment as those of men — a perception the seven-member staff is striving to change.
“Women have been involved in the game of golf from the very beginning … but often the story is of the men,” Cronheim said. “The men as golf course architects, the men as writers, the men as journalists, where is nothing is further from the truth that women have been trailblazers in all these ways for as long as the game has existed.”
The museum seeks to accomplish that goal by displaying powerful stories from golf’s history from multiple cultures and all genders. There’s Mickey Wright room for every Jack Nicklaus room, literally and metaphorically.
Among the prized items like the putter from Adam Sander’s movie “Happy Gilmore,” the golf ball used for Tiger Woods’ final putt at the 2002 U.S. Men’s Open and a permanent gallery dedicated to Bobby Jones’ Grand Slam in 1930, the museum boasts an equal emphasis on the achievements of women in the sport. A few of the museum team’s favorite items are photographs from the 1895 U.S. Women’s Amateur, Annika Sorenstam’s visor from the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open and Michelle Wie’s yardage guide with notes from Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley from the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.
Althea Gibson in New York City on Dec. 12, 1963, after she signed a contract as a golf pro with Dunlop. (Photo: Harry Harris/Associated Press)
“They say Mary Queen of Scots was the first woman to play the game so women have been playing for a really long time and I think as women in a sport that — let’s face it — has the perception of being fairly dominated by men, we feel a responsibility to also elevate the stories of women,” Cronheim said.
The disparity in women’s and men’s golf can be seen most prominently in pay and television coverage allotted.
Last year, the USGA broke down the pay gap between the purses at the U.S. Men’s Open and U.S. Women’s Open for Golfweek, revealing that the $70 million in profits generated from the men’s major goes directly back into the game. From those profits, $22 million went toward women’s championships and participation. The bottom line of the conversation was the USGA loses about $10.4 million on the U.S. Women’s Open. The purse for the event is the largest among the women’s five majors but still lags behind the men by $7 million.
When Annika Sorenstam returned to the LPGA for the first time since she retired in 2008 last month at Gainbridge LPGA, the entire week’s worth of coverage was tape-delayed on Golf Channel with Sunday’s final-round coverage ending at 11 p.m. ET following live coverage of the PGA Tour’s WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession.
Well aware of the inequality in coverage, pay and resulting perception between men’s and women’s professional golf, the USGA Museum staff’s approach to curation and storytelling is working to dissolve the faulty perception of inferiority attached to the women’s game as the members discover new stories and historic artifacts.
While it would be common sense for this particular staff to solely emphasize the prominence of women in the sport, the staff realizes presenting an accurate and well-rounded depiction of the game extends to sharing stories of golfers of all races, from the LGBTQ+ community and well-known recreational players aviation pioneer such as Amelia Earhart, whose clubs, golf bag and headcovers are housed by the library.
Some of these items include Ann Gregory’s contestant badge from the 1956 U.S. Women’s Amateur when she became the first Black woman to compete in the event, Se Ri Pak’s putter from the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open when she became the event’s first foreign-born champion from a country in Asia as well as the clubs and bag of four-time Grand Slam winner and tennis star Althea Gibson when she became one of the first Black women to play on the LPGA tour in the 1960s.
Althea Gibson and Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson during the North-South Tournament at the Miami Springs course on Feb. 23, 1962. (AP Photo)
“We’re all contributing to bringing that female voice forward and kind of leveling the playing field a little bit and that’s what we’re doing at the museum as well by trying to elevate these stories of women and not just of women, (but) people of color, underrepresented communities, the LGBTQ+ community,” curator of collections Rosemary Maravetz said.
While gender plays a role in each staff member determining stories of importance in the sport, their diverse backgrounds and life experiences also play a noticeable role. The ages of the seven staff members range from 26 to one member in her 50s. Some are single and some are married. And they’ve lived in different parts of the United States and the world.
Cronheim completed studies and research at the University of Venice in Italy and the Université Charles-de-Gaulle Lille 3 in Lille, France, where she studied an economic approach to art history while acquiring data analytics and visualization tools. Maravetz, who has more than 20 years of experience working with diverse art collections, artifacts and ethnographic objects, immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela when she was 6. In her time at Rutgers and in her post-graduate career, Maravetz developed a passion for preserving cultural history and evaluating stories of diverse groups through her work with Native American art and utilitarian objects. Her background, upbringing and education provide a vibrant perspective that adds to those of her colleagues in golf.
Cronheim’s time studying in Europe and Maravetz’s heritage and upbringing are just two elements that add a unique perspective to the museum’s depiction of golf. The trained professionals would bring a wide lens to look at the depth of any topic, but it’s especially poignant in a traditionally exclusionary sport like golf.
“We are absolutely more in tune with the stories of people who have been traditionally underrepresented,” Maravetz said of the benefits of her diverse team. “We are drawn to a lot of different kinds of stories. Maybe that has to do with our experiences. … but I think there are others on the team that don’t have that kind of background and are still very interested in covering and sharing the stories that are kind of not in the mainstream.”
Another element that makes the museum team a better staff might seem counter-intuitive: only two of the seven identify as golfers. Cronheim discovered the game more than a decade ago and serves on the golf committee at her home course, Somerset Hills Country Club, while senior historian Victoria Nenno played for four years at Williams College where she served as co-captain. She also interned with the USGA in 2011.
Nenno’s perspective of playing collegiate golf and keeping up with the sport since before she began working at the USGA full-time in 2014 benefits her as she works with leadership on projects like Distance Insights, Rules Modernization and championship-related inquiries. However, her education in history and training and at the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library in Washington, D.C., allow her to approach the job in a way just being a golfer wouldn’t.
“As a historian, as a researcher, as a writer, I have a passion for history and study and a commitment to uncovering truth are so much more important than any golf experience,” Nenno said. “I find (personal experience with) golf helps with certain things and in other ways it’s not the most important part (of my role).”
Hilary Cronheim shows Rory McIlroy the second U.S. Open medal artifact during the past U.S. Open Champion’s dinner at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. (USGA/Chris Keane)
During her seven years on the USGA Museum team, Nenno has used her knowledge of golf and passion for history and “challenging assumptions and convenient narratives” to curate exhibits documenting women in golf course architecture (2017-19) and Scotland’s gift of golf to America which was seen at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration in April 2018.
Maravetz, who’s been with the USGA Museum since 2005, thinks not being a golfer frees her from unconscious bias. Using her education and training in preserving artifacts and pieces of art she’s culminated throughout her career, she cares for each piece of the collection impartially. What she prioritizes will be based on the story each piece tells and if it’s part of a bigger picture, not on nostalgia or personal sentiment.
“I have a little bit of an arms length from (golf) where it’s not so personal for me and I can really see the material for what it is or what it needs. I find really helpful,” Maravetz said. “The other part of it is I was hired because I have a deep background in collections caring management. … You can always learn golf and you can always learn an appreciation for it and certainly for me I’ve gotten very much sucked into the stories. But it’s much harder to how to learn the skill sets that I bring that make me an attractive addition to the team.”
Cronheim said while golf is the topic they research and present, the skills and knowledge each member possesses are the requirements for their jobs. Not how well each can putt.
“We are museum professionals first and golf is the vehicle through which we pursue our passion. … golf just the subject matter,” Cronheim said.
When the USGA Museum staff selected objects from the Wright collection, it didn’t just focus on things that defined her golf career and made her a champion. Rather, the team chose to emphasize objects that provided the fullest picture of Wright as a person, on and off the course. Some of the most interesting pieces are her lipstick — she wore only one shade — and items that speak to Wright’s passion for sculpture and fishing.
The different items in the collection document Wright’s whole life. Not just the time she spent on the course. The same is true for Babe Didrikson Zacharias whose golf career is enshrined in the museum, but so is her baseball glove, another staff favorite.
The team finds that preserving and displaying items that tell a story of each person, event or place helps insert golf into the landscape of American history in ways that golf novices, casual fans or even non-golfers who visit the museum can, and do, appreciate.
Cronheim, Maravetz and Nenno each attribute that success to the unified yet diverse makeup of the staff — something they see inspiring not just in golf to emulate throughout the sport, but society as a whole.
“All of us working in what is perceived as a male-dominated field just continuously proves the importance of women in the game and the diverse roles they’ve always played,” Nenno said. “We’re just continuing that tradition and we’re just sort of the modern spin on something that’s always been a value to the game of golf and recognized by the game of golf.”
Hilary Cronheim as seen at USGA Headquarters in the Liberty Corner, N.J. on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. (Photo: Jason E. Miczek/USGA)
The staff members of the USGA Golf Museum and Library are the following, in alphabetical order:
Players, course designers, coaches and photographers are among those figures in golf we lost in 2020. They won’t soon be forgotten.
The world of golf lost some real treasures in 2020.
Golfers, golf course designers, golf coaches and golf photographers are among those we lost. Pete Dye, Mickey Wright, Doug Sanders, Cullan Brown and Leonard Kamsler were among those who passed away this year.
They are among those who have left their mark on the game and won’t soon be forgotten.
Mickey Wright loved the USGA so much that she bequeathed her entire estate to the organization. It contains plenty of untold stories.
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FAR HILLS, N.J. – Locked away behind two sets of gray steel double doors in the basement of the USGA Golf Museum and Library, Mickey Wright’s life was laid out on a long white table. If that sounds cold and impersonal, rest assured it was not.
There was only one trophy on the table – from her 82nd and final victory on the LPGA at the 1973 Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle. That particular piece of hardware once sat on her desk with a USGA Christmas ornament dangling from it.
Wright, who died in February, three days after her 85th birthday, loved the USGA. From the four USGA stickers on her Mercury Grand Marquis to the countless pieces of memorabilia that she kept – including two U.S. Senior Women’s Open trophy pins from championships that she did not play.
The four-time U.S. Women’s Open winner loved the USGA so much, in fact, that she bequeathed her entire estate to the organization and asked that her ashes be placed beneath the bay window of the Mickey Wright Room, which opened in 2012. Wright never visited the room but kept a scrapbook of articles that were written about it.
When museum director Hilary Cronheim first entered Wright’s modest South Florida home two weeks after her death, she thought she might find additional medals or trophies for the existing exhibit. But she didn’t. Those had already been archived. What Cronheim and her colleagues instead found was the rest of Mickey, the untold story of the intensely private champion.
“She had this reputation of being a hermit toward the end of her life,” said Cronheim, “and when we were down there in her home, nothing could be further from the truth.”
Wright died of a heart attack on Feb. 17, several weeks after being hospitalized for a fall. The mystery novel that she’d been reading was still on her bed, next to her pajamas and a pair of neatly folded socks.
“It was a lot to walk into,” said museum curator Rosemary Maravetz.
Three USGA colleagues carefully sorted through the possessions of Wright and her longtime companion Peggy Wilson, a former LPGA player who now resides in an assisted living facility.
Mickey Wright artifacts as seen at USGA Museum on October 19, 2020. (Copyright USGA/Jonathan Kolbe)
Some of the best discoveries were made inside Wright’s shed, surrounded by mounds of potting soil. Wright loved Bonsai trees. So many Ross Perot buttons and posters were found that it looked like she’d once campaigned for the two-time presidential candidate. Handmade clothes indicate that Wright might have been a seamstress. She was most certainly a sculptor and, by the looks of it, their beloved cat “Pie” was a suitable model.
Wright enjoyed fishing behind her house as well as in the ocean. A wearable tackle box sat on the museum’s working table near several strands of pearls. Her favorite shade of Revlon lipstick was Love that Pink, and the meticulous champion had stockpiled 10 tubes of it.
Wright carefully charted everything, from her calorie intake to a stock’s performance, the latter with hand-drawn graphs. She was particular about wanting her desk taken up to Far Hills. They also took the adding machine, a lamp, a 2014 Curtis Cup mouse pad and stacks of ledgers. She’d often write to the authors of the investment books she read seeking advice.
Mickey Wright’s personal notes and letters along with “Play Golf the Wright Way” as seen at USGA Museum on October 19, 2020. (Copyright USGA/Jonathan Kolbe)
A green Titleholders jacket hung in her closet. One of her books, “Play Golf the Wright Way,” was opened up to a spread showing her driver sequence. Wright filled up notebooks with swing thoughts and kept dozens of VHS tapes of her golf highlights. She even had a professional studio preserve certain clips, giving future generations priceless footage of a swing Ben Hogan once lauded as the best in golf.
Wright certainly carried on a full life after golf, but it was clear that she was still very proud.
There were notes on the “history and feelings of a slump and recovery therefrom.” On hotel stationary from 1962 she wrote, “A swing has its own pace. Don’t create one for it.”
Wright liked to hit balls from an artificial green mat behind her house. She donated that mat to the USGA years ago, but then apparently went out and bought another one. Her red shag bag, white golf shoes and a rusty spectator seat were found in the laundry room.
Her sacks of correspondence included a letter from the LPGA in 1989 addressing her medical insurance; Christmas cards from Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and Lucy Li; and her parents’ marriage license. Black-and-white photos of a pudgy “Baby Girl Wright” were scooped up along with albums of snapshots from over the years.
There are pictures of Kathy Whitworth over at the house hitting balls. Golf historian Rhonda Glenn was there, too. Wright kept a record of their conversations on microcassette audio tapes.
Oh, to imagine the stories we’ve yet to hear.
Wright’s extensive collection of 45 RPM records were kept in a traveling case one has to assume she took on tour. A stack of LPGA membership cards included her original from 1955. Next to a Wilson staff bag by the vault door sat two blue hard-shell suitcases with LPGA logos and bag tags from long-ago flights to Tampa and Miami.
Mickey Wright’s LPGA Luggage as seen at USGA Museum on October 19, 2020. (Copyright USGA/Jonathan Kolbe)
Wright knew that her place in the game and her personal story would be safe with the USGA. The three women tasked with sorting through sock drawers and closets in search of both the everyday and extraordinary treasures of a sporting legend, took their job seriously. At times, it felt invasive. Deeply emotional, too.
When they’d finished, the trio went out to Wright’s back patio to watch the sunset, reflect and toast a woman that they, like so many, had never met in person.
Thanks to this great and final gift to the game, however, she no longer remains a mystery.
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols gives us an exclusive look at what the USGA is doing to sift through, organize, and display all of the artifacts and belongings that Mickey Wright left to golf’s governing body.
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols gives us an exclusive look at what the USGA is doing to sift through, organize, and display all of the artifacts and belongings that Mickey Wright left to golf’s governing body.
The medal dates back to the beginning of the championship 75 years ago and, until now, did not have a formal name.
Every future U.S. Women’s Open champion will know the name Mickey Wright.
The USGA announced on Saturday that the medal presented each year to the winner of the championship has been renamed in honor of Wright and redesigned with an image of her iconic swing.
The medal dates back to the beginning of the championship and, until now, did not have a formal name. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Women’s Open. USGA officials began talking some time ago about ways to mark the occasion and celebrating Wright, a four-time winner of the championship, a record she holds with good friend Betsy Rawls, quickly came to mind.
Wright died on Feb. 17 at the age of 85, before USGA officials had the chance to tell her the news.
“We’re so glad that she will be forever linked to the championship in this way,” said Julia Pine, senior manager, women’s championship communications, “but certainly sad we weren’t able to share the news with her personally before her passing. Given her longstanding relationship with the USGA, we know she would have been incredibly touched.”
At the @USGA annual meeting enjoying some of the memorabilia on display, including letters from Mickey Wright’s scrapbook. pic.twitter.com/FbFwjl8O2k
Wright joins Jack Nicklaus as the only players to have USGA medals named in their honor. In 2012, the USGA named the U.S. Open medal after Nicklaus.
“Mickey exemplified what it means to be a USGA champion both on and off the course,” said Mike Davis, CEO of the USGA. “Naming the U.S. Women’s Open champion’s medal after Mickey, in a milestone anniversary year for the championship, is a fitting way to honor the breadth of her accomplishments and contributions to the game of golf. She embodied what it means to be a U.S. Women’s Open competitor and champion, showing mental toughness, exquisite shot-making and exceptional course management. We are so honored to have had the relationship with her that we did.”
In 2012, Wright became the fourth person to be honored with her own exhibition room at the USGA Golf Museum, joining Ben Hogan, Bob Jones and Arnold Palmer. Nicklaus became the fifth in 2015. Wright won 82 LPGA titles, including 13 majors, and competed in her first U.S. Girls’ Junior in 1950. She won the championship in ’52.
“To win five of their championships, the U.S. Girls’ Junior and four Women’s Opens, has always been my most cherished accomplishment in golf,” Wright said in 2012. “My only regret was not being able to win a fifth Women’s Open. Someday, perhaps, someone will.”
Where will Tiger Woods play next? What does Rory McIlroy think of the Premier Golf League? JuliaKate Culpepper discusses on Golfweek Rewind.
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Tiger Woods reveals if he’ll play in the Honda Classic, Rory McIlroy shares his opinion on the Premier Golf League and we remember Mickey Wright after her death.
Take a look at the week’s top stories on the latest episode of Golfweek Rewind.
Top stories
Tiger Woods is skipping the Honda Classic, marking the second-straight week the 15-time major champion won’t compete. Woods also did not play in the WGC-Mexico Championship, citing back stiffness that bothered him throughout the Genesis Invitational. It is unknown what events Woods will play before the Masters Tournament in April.
Rory McIlroy isn’t sold on the Premiere Golf League. Ahead of the WGC-Mexico Championship, McIlroy revealed he has thought about the proposed golf league, but doesn’t like it. The league, in early planning stages, would rival the PGA and European Tours and boasts a season of 18 events across the globe and $10 million purses at each stop.
PGA:Patrick Reed won the WGC- Mexico Championship by one stroke and Viktor Hovland earned his first PGA Tour win at the Puerto Rico Open. Next up is the Honda Classic which begins Thursday at PGA National.
Euro Tour: Top European Tour players joined PGA Tour players at the WGC- Mexico Championship. The next stop on the European Tour is the Oman Open in Muscat, Oman, which begins Thursday.
LPGA: After the LPGA’s three-event Asia swing was canceled due to concerns over coronavirus, the next LGPA event is the Volvik Founders Cup in Phoenix, Arizona, beginning March 19.
More information on these top stories can be found in the latest edition of Golfweek Rewind, featured above.
Mickey Wright won 13 times during the 1963 season, including two majors, setting an LPGA record that stands today.
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
