Whitworth, winningest golfer in history, dies at 83
Kathy Whitworth set a benchmark in golf no one has ever touched, whether it was Sam Snead or Tiger Woods, Mickey Wright or Annika Sorenstam. Her 88 victories are the most by any player on a single professional tour.
Whitworth, whose LPGA Tour wins spanned nearly a quarter-century and who became the first woman to earn $1 million on the LPGA, died on Christmas Eve, her longtime partner said. She was 83.
Bettye Odle did not disclose a cause of death, saying only that Whitworth died suddenly Saturday night while celebrating with family and friends.
Whitworth won the first of her 88 titles in the Kelly Girls Opens in July 1962. She won six majors during her career and broke Mickey Wright's record of 82 career wins when Whitworth captured the Lady Michelob in the summer of 1982. Her final victory came in 1985 at the United Virginia Bank Classic.
“Winning never got old,” Whitworth once said.
All that was missing from her career was the U.S. Women's Open, the biggest of the women's majors. Upon being the first woman to surpass $1 million in career earnings in 1981, she said, “I would have swapped being the first to make a million for winning the Open, but it was a consolation which took some of the sting out of not winning.”
Whitworth was the AP Female Athlete of the Year in 1965 and in 1967, when she easily beat out Wimbledon singles champion Billie Jean King. Whitworth was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1982.
She was the LPGA player of the year seven times in an eight-year span (1966 through 1973). She won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average seven times and she was the leading money winner in eight seasons.
But she was identified by one number — 88.
Snead was credited with a record 82 wins on the PGA Tour, a total Woods has since matched. Wright won 82 times on the LPGA Tour, while Sorenstam had 72 wins when she retired after the 2006 season at age 36.
“I think Mickey had the best swing, and was probably the greatest golfer,” Betsy Rawls once told Golf Digest. “But Kathy was the best player of the game that I have ever seen.”
Whitworth was born in Monahans, a small West Texas town, and learned to play golf in New Mexico. She started at age 15 in Jal, New Mexico, on the nine-hole course built for the El Paso Natural Gas employees.
She soon was a two-time winner of the New Mexico
State Amateur. After briefly attending Odessa (Texas) College, she turned pro at age 19 and joined the LPGA Tour in December 1958.
“I was really fortunate in that I knew what I wanted to do,” Whitworth once told Golf Digest. “Golf just grabbed me by the throat. I can't tell you how much I loved it. I used to think everyone knew what they wanted to do when they were 15 years old.”
Wright had the more aesthetically pleasing swing. Whitworth was all about grinding, and about winning.
Whitworth won eight times in 1963 and 1965, and she had 11 victories in 1968. In none of those years did she earn more than $50,000. All these years later, the LPGA Tour total prize fund for 2023 will top $100 million.
Whitworth continued to conduct junior clinics and stay active in the game.
“I don't think about the legacy of 88 tournaments,” she once said. “I did it because I wanted to win, not to set a record or a goal that no one else could surpass. I'm not some great oddity. I was just fortunate to be so successful. What I did in being a better player does not make me a better person.”
• Stephan Bonnar, a UFC Hall of Fame honoree who helped put mixed martial arts on the map, died Thursday. He was 45.
Bonnar died from “presumed heart complications,” the UFC said late Saturday night in a statement announcing his death.
“Stephan Bonnar was one of the most important fighters to ever compete in the Octagon,” UFC President Dana White said. “The fans loved him, related to him, and he always gave them his best. He will be missed.”
Bonnar was part of a turning point in UFC history — a 2005 fight against Forrest Griffin to crown the season one champion on “The Ultimate Fighter.” The reality show title fight went three rounds and enthralled fans, with Griffin and Bonnar laying everything on the line.
Griffin defeated Bonnar, but both men were offered deals to join the UFC.
“Everything changed,” Bonnar said in 2020. “I didn't think I'd have a UFC career. It was just a little hobby I was doing, so it changed everything. Almost overnight, I became like a celebrity. Everywhere I went, someone would recognize me, even in obscure places.”
Born April 4, 1977, in Hammond, Ind., Bonnar was involved in combat sports from a young age. He graduated from Purdue University in 2000 with a degree in sports medicine.
Bonnar joined the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2005. “TUF” is the UFC's reality show, putting amateur fighters through a series of challenges, with the winner promised a six-figure deal and spot on the promotion's storied roster of fighters.
The first season finale pitted Bonnar against Griffin on April 9, 2005. The brutal, back-and-forth bout inspired a generation of UFC fans. Years later, Bonnar was well past dwelling on the loss.
“That's like the best loss ever. No one really remembers the actual result, but everyone remembers the fight — that's all everyone talks about,” he said in a 2012 interview. “That's just such an important moment in history for MMA — we helped put it on the map, gyms started sprouting up everywhere, little kids started to train, the list goes on.”
Bonnar finished his MMA career with a 17-9 record. He fought champions including Anderson Silva, Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz.
• Kevin Payne, who was an executive with two Major League Soccer teams and was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2021, died Sunday. He was 69.
U.S. Soccer, MLS and D.C. United, which won four MLS titles and two U.S. Open Cups during Payne's tenure, put out statements confirming his death. The Washington Post reported that Payne died in Charleston, S.C. from a lung illness.
“He will always be remembered as a dedicated champion of our club, MLS, our community and soccer in the U.S.,” D.C. United's statement said.
Payne was president and general manager of D.C. United from 1994-2001 and then president and CEO of the team from 2004-2012. He also was president of Toronto FC from 2012-13, a member of the MLS Board of Governors for 18 years and the executive director and CEO of US Club Soccer from 2015-2021.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber called Payne “instrumental in the formation of the League” and that he had “helped build D.C. United into the first MLS dynasty.”
“Kevin leaves a legacy not only of success in business and sports, but he will also be remembered for his strong moral compass, his kindness, and his devotion to his friends and family,”
Pepperdine falls to Iona
Nelly Junior Joseph's 20 points helped Iona beat Pepperdine 76-66 in Honolulu. Joseph added 13 rebounds for the Gaels (9-4). Walter Clayton Jr. scored 18 points. Maxwell Lewis finished with 23 points and eight rebounds for the Waves (7-7). UTAH STATE 82, WASHINGTON STATE 73 ❯❯ Steve Ashworth made three of Utah State's 11 3-pointers, and scored 12 points in a balanced attack that led the Aggies (11-2) over the Cougars (5-8) in Honolulu.