According to the American Ladies Professional Golf Association, Kathy Whitworth, the professional golfer with the most trophies, passed away at the age of 83.
“Her 88 LPGA victories are the most ever on a professional tour,” it said.
Sam Snead and Tiger Woods, who hold the joint records for the men’s game, as well as the Texan’s competitor Mary Kathryn “Mickey” Wright, were all outdone by her by six trophies.
While spending Christmas Eve with family and friends on Saturday night, she passed away unexpectedly, according to her partner.
Without elaborating, Bettye Odle merely added, “Kathy left this world the way she lived it, loving, laughing, and making memories.”
Whitworth finished second in the 1971 US Women’s Open, the most coveted trophy, and won six majors over the course of her long career.
She was the first woman to make $1 million (£829,000) on the LPGA circuit in 1981.
She remarked at the time, “I would have traded being the first to make a million for winning the Open, but it was a consolation which took some of the pain off of not winning.
She won her last professional championship in 1985, 23 years after her initial victory.
Kathy Whitworth’s funeral, burial service, pictures, date, time, venue
The family is yet to make an official pronouncement about Kathy Whitworth’s funeral plans. You’ll be updated with the latest.
Whitworth was “one of the most remarkable women,” LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a tribute.
In a statement, she added, “Kathy was a champion in the purest sense of the term, both on the golf course and off.
