Liselotte Maria "Lotta" Neumann (born 20 May 1966) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er. When she recorded her first LPGA Tour win, by claiming the 1988 U.S. Women's Open title, Neumann also became the first Swedish golfer, male or female, to win a major championship.

Early years

Neumann was born and grew up in

Finspång Finspång () is a locality and the seat of Finspång Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 12,440 inhabitants in 2010. Overview Finspång is a traditional industrial town. The first industries were established in 1580 when a Royal fact ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Her father Rune was a former football player and coach of a local girls football team. After practicing different sports and supported by her father, her mother Ingegerd and her brother Mats, Neumann began playing golf at the local 9-hole course at Finspång Golf Club. She showed early promise and won the unofficial national youth championships, Colgate Cup, at three different levels, as a 12, 14, and 16-year-old. Neumann has later given a lot of credit, for her successful career, to her local coach since her early years, Pierre Karlström. Neumann also has showed her loyalty to her first golf club by, three times during the peak of her career in the 1990s, inviting some of the female golf stars of the world,

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...

Karrie Webb Karrie Ann Webb (born 21 December 1974) is an Australian professional golfer. She plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour, and also turns out once or twice a year on the ALPG Tour in her home country. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of ...

Kelly Robbins Kelly Robbins (born September 29, 1969) is a former American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1992 and won nine LPGA Tour events, including one major championship, during her career. Amateur career Robbins was born i ...

and

Jane Geddes Jane Geddes (born February 5, 1960) is a retired American professional golfer. She joined the LPGA Tour in 1983 and won two major championships and 11 LPGA Tour events overall. Geddes was the Vice President of Talent Relations of WWE. Career ...

among others, for exhibition matches in Finspång.

Amateur career

In 1981, only 15 years of age, she sensationally won the Swedish International Amateur Stroke-Play Championship, one of three major amateur tournaments in Sweden at the time, at Jönköping Golf Club, with a record aggregate of 282 and a 9-stroke margin. She bettered her personal 72-hole best with 30 strokes and beat the whole Swedish amateur national team, of which some did not even had heard of Neumann before the tournament. At the time of her triumph, she wasn't even qualified for the Swedish national junior team, which, the same summer, won the European Lady Junior's Team Championship. The year after, she successfully defended her stroke-play title and, at 16 years old, was a member of the national team at the

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fren ...

in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1983, she finished second in Orange Bowl International Junior Championship in Coral Gables,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. In 1984, she was the Swedish Match Play champion (tournament for first time open for professionals), member of the winning Swedish team at the

European Lady Junior's Team Championship The European Lady Junior's Team Championship was a European amateur team golf championship for women under 22 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1968. It was played every year until 1984, then every second ye ...

at Campo de Golf El Saler,

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and medalist at the 36-hole qualifying competition in the European Ladies Team Championship, in Waterloo,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. After another appearance at the

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in late 1984, she turned professional at the beginning of 1985, not yet 19 years old.

Professional career

She collected her first professional win at the Pierre Robert Cup, over 54 holes at

Falsterbo Golf Club Falsterbo Golf Club is a links golf club located in Falsterbo, Skåne County in Sweden. It has hosted the PLM Open on the European Tour. History Falsterbo was founded in 1909 and is Sweden's third oldest golf club. In 1911 it was moved a few ...

, in Sweden in May 1985 and played on the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal stru ...

(at the time named the WPGA Tour) the second half of the year, were she won twice. At the Höganäs Ladies Open at

Mölle Golf Club Mölle Golf Club is a golf club located on the Kullen peninsula in Höganäs Municipality, southwestern Sweden. It has hosted the Höganäs Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour. Location The course, partially overlooking the Öresund strait, ...

in Sweden, she became the youngest ever winner on the WPGA Tour. She led the

1986 Ladies European Tour The 1986 Ladies European Tour was a series of golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place in 1986. The tournaments were sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Tournaments The table below shows the 198 ...

Order of Merit for most of the season, with eight straight top three finishes, but lost the lead to

at the last tournament, the

Spanish Open Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. While Davies won the tournament, Neumann finished 27th, her worst of the season. In the rankings, Neumann finished second, earning £494 less than Davies. The same year the ladies'

Swedish Golf Tour The Swedish Golf Tour (currently known as the MoreGolf Mastercard Tour for sponsorship reasons), is a developmental professional golf formerly operated by Svenska Golftourerna AB, owned equally by the Swedish Golf Federation and the PGA of Swede ...

get started with seven tournaments and Neumann was its first Order of Merit winner. Neumann became a member of 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 Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, after tying fourth at the LPGA Tour Final Qualifying Tournament in late 1987. 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 ...

Baltimore Country Club Baltimore Country Club is a private club in Baltimore, Maryland, with two campuses, one in the city's Roland Park neighborhood and the other in the north suburb of Lutherville. It is one of only twelve clubs nationwide to operate two campuses. T ...

, Five Farms,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, July 21-24, at 22 years of age, Neumann led wire-to-wire in just her 16th LPGA Tour tournament, setting a new tournament first-round record 67 and 72-hole record 277, becoming the first Swedish major winner, male or female, as well as the first Swedish tournament winner on the LPGA Tour or the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

. She became the fifth non-U.S.-winner and the second youngest (by two months to

Catherine Lacoste Catherine Lacoste (born 27 June 1945) is a French amateur golfer and the only player who has won the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur. Early life She was born and grew up in Paris, France, with her parents, René Lacoste and Simone de la Chaume ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

) in the 43-year history of the championship. She was voted 1988 LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year and earned her second Swedish Golfer of the Year award. She was also appointed 1988 Swedish Sportswomen of the Year by ''Aftonbladet'' and the

Swedish Sports Confederation The Swedish Sports Confederation ( sv, Riksidrottsförbundet, RF) is the umbrella organisation of the Swedish sports movement. Through its member organisations, it has three million members in 22,000 clubs. The Confederation was formed on 31 May 1 ...

. In total she won thirteen times on the LPGA Tour. The 1988 U.S. Women's Open remains her only

LPGA major Women's golf has a set of major championships which parallels that in men's golf, with the women's system newer and less stable than the men's. As of 2013, five tournaments are designated as majors in women's golf by the LPGA Tour. LPGA majors ...

, but she won the

Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a women's major golf championships, major championship in Professional golf tours#Women's tours, women's professional go ...

in 1994, when it was recognised as a major championship by the

, but not by the LPGA Tour. She also finished second five times in three other major championships. Her best finish on the LPGA Tour money list is third in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. She also finished top ten in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. Throughout her career on the LPGA Tour, she continued to play on the

, as well as in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. She won five times in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the 1995

Women's Australian Open The Women's Australian Open is a women's professional golf tournament played in Australia, operated by Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, long co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Beginning with the 2012 event, it is ...

. Her victory in the 1994

Women’s British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tou ...

made her the fifth player to win both British and U.S. Open titles, joining

Betsy King :''Betsy King was also a childhood name for Lizzie Lloyd King.'' Betsy King (born August 13, 1955) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won six major championships and 34 LPGA Tour victories in a ...

and

Patty Sheehan Patty Sheehan (born October 27, 1956) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1980 and won six major championships and 35 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sheehan also ...

. This accomplishment was later also achieved by

Alison Nicholas Alison Nicholas, (born 6 March 1962) is an English professional golfer. Amateur career Nicholas was born in Gibraltar. She was educated at the School of St Mary and St Anne (now Abbots Bromley School for Girls). She enjoyed a very successful ...

Pak Se-ri Pak Se-ri or Se-ri Pak ( ko, 박세리, ; born 28 September 1977) is a South Korean former professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour from 1998 to 2016. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007. Career overview Born in ...

Inbee Park Inbee Park (, or ; born 12 July 1988) is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Japan Tour. She has been the number one ranked player in the Women's World Golf Rankings for four separate runs: April 201 ...

and

Ariya Jutanugarn Ariya Jutanugarn ( th, เอรียา จุฑานุกาล, , ; born 23 November 1995) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the American-based LPGA Tour. She was born in Bangkok. She is the first golfer, male or female, from Tha ...

. In

Neumann topped the LET Order of Merit, was voted ''

Golf World ''Golf World'' was a weekly magazine covering the game of golf published by Condé Nast. It was in circulation between 1947 and 2014. Currently, ''Golf World'' still available in digital form and from May 13, 2019 to April 8, 2022, the brand has b ...

s Most Improved Golfer and awarded Swedish Golfer of the Year for the third time. Neumann played in the European

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force beh ...

team against United States, six times in a row,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. She captained the team to victory in August,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Colorado Golf Club Colorado Golf Club is a golf club located in Parker, Colorado, southeast of Denver. Opened in 2007, it hosted the Senior PGA Championship in 2010, won by Tom Lehman. It also hosted the Solheim Cup in 2013, a biennial ladies team competition contest ...

Parker, Colorado Parker is a Colorado municipalities#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas County, Colorado, United States. As a self-declared "town" under the home rule statutes, Parker is the second most populous to ...

, the first time team Europe won the cup on foreign soil, and the first time Europe won consecutive cups. Neumann won the

Women's World Cup of Golf The Women's World Cup of Golf was a professional golf tournament contested by teams of two female golfers representing their respective countries. The tournament was played in two incarnations, first in 2000 at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co ...

for Sweden in 2006 with

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 inter ...

Awards and honors

Besides being awarded Swedish Golfer of the Year three times, Neumann received the Golden Club by the Swedish Golf Federation in 1998, as the tenth person, for great contributions to Swedish golf. In 1998, she also became an honorary member of the PGA of Sweden. She was recognized during the LPGA’s 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA’s top 50 players and teachers. On June 7, 2006, the Ladies European Tour announced that Neumann has earned Lifetime Membership of the LET, at the time a feat achieved by six other golfers,

Helen Alfredsson Helen Christine Alfredsson (born 9 April 1965) is a Swedish professional golfer who played primarily on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and is also a life member of the Ladies European Tour. She won the LPGA major Nabisco Dinah Shore and twice finish ...

Marie-Laure de Lorenzi Marie-Laure de Lorenzi (born 21 January 1961, in Biarritz) is a French professional golfer. She is also known by her married name Marie-Laure Taya, and competed using that name until midway through 1989 when she reverted to her maiden name. De ...

Dale Reid Dale Reid (born 20 March 1959) is a Scottish professional golfer from Ladybank, Fife. She is one of the most successful players in the history of the Ladies European Tour, with 21 tournament victories. She topped the Order of Merit in 1984 and ...

and

Annika Sorenstam Annika is a feminine given name. It is the Swedish pet form of Anna, similar to Anneke in the Netherlands. It is also common in Germany, Finland and Estonia, gaining popularity after 1969 from the character of that name in the ''Pippi Longstockin ...

Amateur wins

*1981 Swedish International Stroke-play Championship *1982 Swedish Junior Stroke-play Championship, Swedish International Stroke-play Championship, Scandinavian Foursome (with Signe Lindfeldt), Dunlop Open (Täby GC)

Professional wins (36)

LPGA Tour wins (13)

LPGA Tour playoff record (2–2) Major championships is shown in bold.

Ladies European Tour wins (11)

Ladies European Tour playoff record (1–1) ''Note: Neumann won the

once after it was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour in 1994, but before it was recognized as a major championship on the LPGA Tour in 2001.''

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (5)

LPGA of Japan Tour playoff record (1–1)

ALPG Tour wins (1)

ALPG Tour playoff record (1–0)

Other wins (5)

*1984 (1) Swedish Match-play Championship (as an amateur) *1985 (1) Pierre Robert Cup (Sweden) *1987 (1) Singapore Open (Asian Tour) *1992 (1) Sunrise Cup World Team Championship (team with

) (individual, shared with

Trish Johnson Patricia Mary "Trish" Johnson (born 17 January 1966) is an English professional golfer. Early life and amateur career Johnson was born in Bristol. Her three brothers were all golfers, one of them was a professional golfer. She practiced other ...

, England) *2006 (1)

(team event with

; recognised by all the main women's tours, but not an official money event) ¹Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA Tour
²Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour

Legends Tour wins (4)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001. CUT = missed the half-way cut.
WD = withdrew
"T" tied.

Summary

*Starts – 85 *Wins – 1 *2nd-place finishes – 5 *3rd-place finishes – 4 *Top 3 finishes – 10 *Top 5 finishes – 13 *Top 10 finishes – 17 *Top 25 finishes – 34 *Missed cuts – 21 *Most consecutive cuts made – 14 *Longest streak of top-10s – 3

LPGA Tour career summary

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing Sweden): 1982, 1983, 1984 (winners) *

(representing Sweden):

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pla ...

(representing Sweden):

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Vagliano Trophy The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in od ...

(representing Continent of Europe): 1983 Professional *

(representing Europe):

(winners),

(winners, non-playing captain) *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Sweden): 2006 (winners) *

Handa Cup The Handa Cup is a series of senior women's golf matches between a United States team and a World Team drawn from players from the rest of the world. It was founded in 2006 and is an event on the LPGA Legends Tour. Since 2013 it has been officially ...

(representing World team): 2011, 2013 (winners), 2014, 2015

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Liselotte Swedish female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Solheim Cup competitors for Europe Sportspeople from Östergötland County People from Finspång Municipality People from Rancho Mirage, California 1966 births Living people