Sally Little (born 12 October 1951) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n-born

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. She 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 ...

in 1971 and won 15 LPGA Tour events, including two major championship, during her career. In 2016, she became the first female golfer from South Africa inducted into the South African Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Little was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. She became a United States citizen in August 1982.

Amateur career

She was the low individual at the

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 ...

World Amateur Team Championship and won the South African Match Play and Stroke Play titles that same year. As an amateur, she tied for fifth at the 1971

Lady Carling Open The Greater Baltimore Golf Classic was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1962 to 1980.LPGA Tourn ...

Professional career

Little joined the

in 1971 and was named LPGA Rookie of the Year. Her first professional win was at the 1976

Women's International The Moss Creek Women's Invitational was a golf tournament in South Carolina on the LPGA Tour from 1976 to 1985. It was played at the Moss Creek Plantation on Hilton Head Island. When first announced in January 1976, it was titled the "Ladies Maste ...

. Little holed a shot from a greenside bunker on the 72nd hole to edge

Jan Stephenson Jan Lynn Stephenson (born 22 December 1951) is an Australian professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974 and won three major championships and 16 LPGA Tour events. She has 41 worldwide victories including (10) LPGA Legen ...

by one shot.Sand Trap shot wins for Little
/ref> Little's best season was 1982, when she finished third on the money list. She has won 15 times on the tour, including two major championships, the 1988 du Maurier Classic and the 1980 LPGA Championship. She was awarded the 1989 Ben Hogan Award from the Golf Writers Association of America and was recognised during the LPGA's 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA's top-50 players and teachers.

Professional wins

LPGA Tour (15)

''Note: Little won the Nabisco Dinah Shore Invitational (now known as the

Kraft Nabisco Championship The Chevron Championship is a professional women's golf tournament. An event on the LPGA Tour, it is one of the tour's five major championships, and has traditionally been the first of the season since its elevation to major status in 1983. Fou ...

) before it became a major championship.'' LPGA Tour playoff record (4–2)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Team appearances

Amateur *

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 ...

(representing South Africa):

Professional *

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): 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (tie)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Sally South African female golfers American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Sportspeople from Cape Town South African people of British descent 1951 births Living people 21st-century American women