Elizabeth Earle "Betsy" Rawls (born May 4, 1928) is an American former

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

professional golfer. She won eight major championship and 55 LPGA Tour career events. She is a member of the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

Early life and education

Rawls was the daughter of Robert Miller and Mary Earle Rawls. She was born in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat, seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest c ...

, and moved to

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, in 1940. She went on to graduate from Lovelady High School and enrolled in North Texas Agricultural College (now

UT-Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of T ...

) in 1946 as a physics major. As a freshman, she was recognized by faculty and department heads as a "Who's Who" in Physics, and was selected for the

Phi Kappa Theta Phi Kappa Theta (), commonly known as Phi Kap, is a national social fraternity that has over 35 active chapters and colonies at universities across 21 U.S. states. The fraternity was founded on April 29, 1959, at Ohio State University in Columbu ...

honor society. The following year Rawls transferred to the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, where she graduated with a degree in physics in 1950.

Amateur career

Rawls started playing golf at age 17. She won the Texas Amateur in 1949 and 1950. She also won the 1949 Trans-National and the 1950 Broadmoor Invitational. In 1950, she finished second at the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

as an amateur.

Professional career

Rawls turned professional in 1951 and joined the

. She won her first tournament that year at the

Sacramento Women's Invitational Open The Sacramento Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour, played intermittently from 1951 to 1962. It was played in Sacramento, California at three different courses: the Del Paso Country Club in 1951 and 1961, the Bing Maloney Golf Course in 195 ...

. She would go on to win a total of 55 events on the LPGA Tour, including eight major championships. In 1959, she earned the LPGA Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. She was the tour's leading money winner in 1952 and 1959 and finished in the top ten on the money list a total of nine times. She led the tour in wins three times, 1952 with eight, 1957 with five (tied with

Patty Berg Patricia Jane Berg (February 13, 1918 – September 10, 2006) was an American professional golfer. She was a founding member and the first president of the LPGA. Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a fem ...

), and 1959 with ten. Rawls was the LPGA's president from 1961 to 1962. In 1967, when the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame was created, she was one of the six inaugural inductees. The LPGA recognized her induction year into the Hall of Fame of Women’s Golf, 1960, as her official induction year into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and the

. Following her retirement from tournament play in 1975, she became a tournament director for the LPGA Tour. From 1987 until 2004, she was the tournament director for the McDonald's LPGA Championship at the DuPont Country Club. In 1996, she was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.

Professional wins

LPGA Tour wins (55)

* 1951 (2)

* 1952 (8)

Houston Weathervane The Cross Country 144 Hole Weathervane was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona ...

, Bakersfield Open (tied with

Marlene Hagge Marlene Hagge (née Bauer; born February 16, 1934) is an American former professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950. She won one major championship and 26 LPGA Tour career events. She is a member of the Wor ...

Betty Jameson Elizabeth May Jameson (May 9, 1919 – February 7, 2009) was an American professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1950. She won three major championships and a total of thi ...

and

Babe Zaharias Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer O ...

), Seattle Weathervane, Cross Country 144 Hole Weathervane, Eastern Open,

Women's Western Open The Women's Western Open was an American professional golf tournament founded in 1930. The LPGA was established in 1950, and it recognized the Western Open as one of its major championships through 1967. All of the events back to 1930 have been d ...

, Carrollton Open,

Thomasville Open The Thomasville Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour, played only in 1952. It was played in Thomasville, Georgia. Betsy Rawls Elizabeth Earle "Betsy" Rawls (born May 4, 1928) is an American former LPGA Tour professional golfer. She won ei ...

* 1953 (4) Barbara Romack Open, Eastern Open,

, Fort Worth Open * 1954 (3) Tampa Women's Open, St. Louis Open,

Texas Open The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Val ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

(1) Carrollton Open * 1956 (3) Tampa Open,

Sarasota Open The Sarasota Open is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor green clay courts. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour. From 2022, the event is held at the Payne Park Tennis Center in Sara ...

Peach Blossom Open The Peach Blossom Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1953 to 1966. It was played at the Spartanburg Country Club in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Betsy Rawls, Spartanburg native, hosted the event. Winners ;Peach Blossom Invitational *1 ...

* 1957 (5) Tampa Open, Lake Worth Open,

, Reno Open * 1958 (2) Tampa Open, St. Petersburg Open *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

(10) Lake Worth Open, Royal Crown Open, Babe Zaharias Open,

Land of the Sky Open The Asheville Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1957 to 1960.LPGA Tournament Chronology ...

Triangle Round Robin The Triangle Round Robin was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1953 to 1962. It was played at several different courses on the East Coast of the United States. For its first nine years it was played using a "round robin" format, similar to t ...

LPGA Championship The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the ...

, Mt. Prospect Open,

, Waterloo Open, Opie Turner Open * 1960 (4) Babe Zaharias Open,

Cosmopolitan Open The Cosmopolitan Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1958 to 1965. It was played at the Macktown Golf Course in Rockton, Illinois. Winners ;Cosmopolitan Open *1965 Sandra Haynie ;Cosmopolitan Women's Open *1964 Clifford Ann Creed *19 ...

, Asheville Open *

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

(2)

, Bill Brannin's Swing Parade * 1962 (1) J.E. McAuliffe Memorial * 1963 (1) Sunshine Women's Open * 1964 (2) Dallas Civitan Open Invitational, Valhalla Open *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

(2) Pensacola Invitational, Waterloo Open * 1968 (1) Mickey Wright Invitational * 1969 (1)

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

(2)

Dallas Civitan Open The Mary Kay Classic was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1956 to 1982.LPGA Tournament Chronolog ...

Cincinnati Open The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

(1) GAC Classic LPGA majors are shown in bold.

Other wins (3)

*1951 Hollywood Four-Ball (with

Betty Dodd Elizabeth Hobart Dodd (April 11, 1931 – July 8, 1993) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Dodd was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1931 to General Francis and Margaret Dodd. She began the game of golf at age 11 in 1 ...

) *1954 Inverness Four-Ball (with Betty MacKinnon) *1962 Babe Zaharias Open (tie with

Kathy Cornelius Kathy Cornelius (née McKinnon, born October 27, 1932) is an American professional golfer. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Cornelius attended Florida Southern College, where she played on the men's golf team, as the school did not have a women's ...

)

Major championships

Wins (8)

¹ In an 18-hole playoff, Rawls 70, Pung 77.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rawls, Betsy American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from South Carolina University of Texas at Arlington alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni Sportspeople from Spartanburg, South Carolina 1928 births Living people 21st-century American women