| Louise Suggs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Suggs in 1958 | |||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Full name | Mae Louise Suggs | ||||||||||
| Born | (1923-09-07)September 7, 1923 Atlanta,Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | August 7, 2015(2015-08-07) (aged 91) Sarasota, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||||||||||
| Residence | Delray Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||
| Turned professional | 1948 | ||||||||||
| Former tour(s) | LPGA Tour (co-founder) | ||||||||||
| Professional wins | 61 | ||||||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||||||
| LPGA Tour | 61 (4th all time) | ||||||||||
| Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 11) | |||||||||||
| Western Open | Won:1946,1947,1949,1953 | ||||||||||
| Titleholders C'ship | Won:1946,1954,1956,1959 | ||||||||||
| Chevron Championship | CUT: 1983 | ||||||||||
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won:1957 | ||||||||||
| U.S. Women's Open | Won:1949,1952 | ||||||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Mae Louise Suggs (September 7, 1923 – August 7, 2015) was an Americanprofessional golfer, one of the founders of theLPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf.[1][2]
Born inAtlanta, Suggs had a very successful amateur career, beginning as a teenager. She won the Georgia State Amateur in 1940 at age 16 and again in 1942,[3] was the Southern Amateur Champion in 1941 and 1947,[4] and won theNorth and South Women's Amateur three times (1942, 1946, 1948).[5] She won the 1946 and 1947Women's Western Amateur[6] and the 1946 and 1947Women's Western Open, which was designated as amajor championship when the LPGA was founded.[7] She also won the 1946Titleholders Championship which was also subsequently designated as a women's major. She won the 1947U.S. Women's Amateur and the next year won theBritish Ladies Amateur.[5] She finished her amateur career representing the United States on the 1948Curtis Cup Team.[8]
After her successful amateur career, she turned professional in1948 and went on to win 58[9] additional professional tournaments, with a total of 11majors. Her prowess on the golf course is reflected in the fact that from 1950 to 1960 she was only once out of the top 3 in the season-ending money list. Suggs' victory in the1957 LPGA Championship made her the first LPGA player to complete a careerGrand Slam.[10]
Suggs was an inaugural inductee into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, established in 1967, and was inducted into theWorld Golf Hall of Fame in1979. She was inducted into theGeorgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1966.[11]
She was one of the co-founders of theLPGA in1950, which included her two great rivals of the time,Patty Berg andBabe Zaharias. Suggs served as the organization's president from 1955 to 1957.
TheLouise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award, given annually to the most accomplished first-year player on the LPGA Tour, is named in her honor. In 2006 Suggs was named the 2007 recipient of theBob Jones Award, given by theUnited States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In February 2015 she became one of the first female members ofthe Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.[12]
LPGAmajors are shown inbold.
| Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Titleholders Championship | +14 (80-77-77-80=314) | 2 strokes |  Eileen Stulb |
| 1946 | Women's Western Open | 2 up | Patty Berg | |
| 1947 | Women's Western Open | 4 & 2 | Dorothy Kirby (a) | |
| 1949 | U.S. Women's Open | −9 (69-75-77-70=291) | 14 strokes | Babe Zaharias |
| 1949 | Women's Western Open | 5 & 4 | Betty Jameson | |
| 1952 | U.S. Women's Open | +8 (70-69-70-75=284) | 7 strokes | Marlene Hagge, Betty Jameson |
| 1953 | Women's Western Open | 6 & 5 | Patty Berg | |
| 1954 | Titleholders Championship | +5 (73-71-76-73=293) | 7 strokes | Patty Berg |
| 1956 | Titleholders Championship | +14 (78-75-75-74=302) | 1 stroke | Patty Berg |
| 1957 | LPGA Championship | +5 (69-74-74-68=285) | 3 strokes | Wiffi Smith |
| 1959 | Titleholders Championship | +9 (78-73-75-71=297) | 1 stroke | Betsy Rawls |
(a)=Amateur
Amateur