STANFORD, Calif. – Mickey Wright, one of the finest players in LPGA history, was selected to the Pac-12 Conference Women’s Golf All-Century Team, it was announced Monday night.
Wright, who studied psychology at Stanford and played for the team in 1954, competed professionally for 14 years, winning 90 tournaments. She recorded 82 victories on the LPGA Tour, second all-time, and claimed 13 major championships. Wright is the only woman to hold all four major crowns at the same time (1963-64).
A native of San Diego, Wright received her first golf lesson at age 11 and bettered 100 within a year. Her first breakthrough was winning the 1952 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. In 1954, she won the World Amateur Championship, was runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and finished fourth in the U.S. Open.
A dominant player with a swing Ben Hogan called the best in the game, Wright won at least one event for 14 consecutive years. She captured four U.S. Open and LPGA Championships, and won the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average five times. Wright led the LPGA in money earnings five times.
From 1962 through 1964, Wright was nearly unbeatable. She won 10 times in 1962, an LPGA-record 13 times in 1963 and 11 times in 1964. Twice, Wright won four-straight tournaments. This, in addition to serving as LPGA President in 1963 and 1964.
Wright, who retired at age 34, was named to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1964 and was an inaugural member of the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1967. She was also inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame in 1958. Wright was chosen the Female Golfer of the Century by the Associated Press in 1999.