Donna Caponi-Byrnes (born January 29, 1945) is an American

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 week ...

professional golfer. She became a member of the tour in 1965 and won four major championships and 24 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 ...

Amateur career

Caponi was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. She started playing golf at the age of 5. She learned golf from her father, Harry, and won the Los Angeles Junior title in 1956. She tied for 21st as an amateur at the 1964 Hillside House Ladies' Open on the LPGA Tour.

Professional career

Caponi joined the

in 1965. She won her first tournament in 1969 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 ...

. She is one of 14 players to make the U.S. Women’s Open her first LPGA victory. She would repeat as champion in 1970. Only

Mickey Wright Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright (February 14, 1935 – February 17, 2020) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She became a member of the tour in 1955 and won 82 LPGA Tour career events including 13 major champion ...

had ever won back-to-back U.S. Women's Opens before Caponi, who also matched Wright's 72-hole scoring record of 287. She would go on to win a total of 24 events on the LPGA Tour, including four major championships. Caponi was named Female Player of the Year by Golf Writers Association of America in 1981. She finished in the top ten on the money list ten times between 1968 and 1981, including second-place finishes in 1976 and 1980. She retired from full-time competition in 1988. She was inducted into the

in 2001. In 2009, she was the recipient of the PGA First Lady of Golf Award.Ferncroft Country Club
Ferncroft CC Member Donna Caponi-Byrnes Receives PGA First Lady of Golf Award
Accessed November 23, 2011. She is currently an announcer on the

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...

, covering the Champions Tour.

Personal life

From 1971 to 1981, Caponi was married to Ken Young and was known as Donna Caponi Young. After her divorce in 1981, she changed her name back to Donna Caponi.NY Times News Service
Donna Caponi starting over again
August 24, 1981. Accessed November 23, 2011. She married her longtime boyfriend Edward "Ted" Byrnes on July 29, 2006, and changed her name to Donna Caponi-Byrnes.

Professional wins (29)

LPGA Tour wins (24)

:''Note: Caponi won the Peter Jackson Classic (which became the

du Maurier Classic The CP Women's Open (french: Open féminin du Canada) is a women's professional golf tournament managed by Golf Canada. It has been Canada's national championship tournament since its founding in 1973, and is an official event on the LPGA Tour. ...

) and the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle (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 they became major championships.'' LPGA Tour playoff record (3–5)

Other wins (5)

*1975

Colgate European Open The Colgate European Open was a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1974 to 1979.Wills Qantas Australian Ladies Open *1978 Ping Classic Team Championship (with

Kathy Whitworth Kathrynne Ann Whitworth (September 27, 1939 – December 24, 2022) was an American professional golfer. During her playing career she won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments, more than anyone else on the LPGA or PGA Tours. Whitworth was also a runner-up ...

) *1980 Portland Ping Team Championship (with

) *1981 Portland Ping Team Championship (with

)