Betsy Rawls dead aged 95: Golf in mourning as trail-blazing legend who won eight majors and 55 tournaments dies

ONE of the greatest female golfers of all time has died aged 95.

Betsy Rawls was a pioneer for the game and racked up a stunning 55 tournament wins and eight majors.

APBetsy Rawls, pictured in 1969, has died aged 95[/caption]

GettyRawls was an inaugural inductee into the Hall of Fame for women’s golf[/caption]

She passed away at her Delaware beach home on Saturday.

Tributes from the golfing world poured in for the legendary figure.

Mike Whan, the CEO of the USGA and former LPGA Tour commissioner, said: “There are simply not many careers that can compare to Betsy’s.

“She was a legend in the game who would have been successful in anything she pursued, so we are all lucky she made golf her passion. RIP to a true champion.”

Rawls’ fellow Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez tweeted: “Very sad to hear of the passing of Betsy Rawls. She was a great champion and a supportive player to my career.

“She was always so kind. Rest in peace Betsy. I hope you are shooting under par up in heaven.”

Beth Daniel, another legendary golf star, wrote: “I am saddened to hear that Betsy Rawls passed away today.

“Betsy was not only a great player and great lady, but was the head of tournament officials and became the director of the McDonald’s Championship. She was a fellow South Carolinian and definitely a mentor to me in my career.”

One fan commented: “She was one of the finest people I’ve met in any walk of life.”

Another typed: “Betsy Rawls was a trailblazer for the LPGA. A CHAMPION both on and off the course. Very thoughtful & kind. Fiercely competitive. A role model and mentor. All class.”

Born in South Carolina in 1928, Rawls picked up golf aged 17, enjoying a successful amateur career – but she studied physics at university and was planning to go down the science route before Wilson stepped in to fund her golf.

She turned professional in 1951, joining the LPGA Tour and collected her first trophy at the Sacramento Women’s Invitational Open.

Her eight majors came between 1951 and 1969, starting with the first of her four US Women’s Opens.

Rawls was the LPGA’s leading money earner in 1952 and 1959 and went on to be president of the Tour and later an inaugural inductee into the Hall of Fame as well as receiving the prestigious Bob Jones Award.

She is sixth on the list of women’s major wins and tournament wins.

Following her retirement, she served as tournament director of the LPGA Championship.

Rawls was also the first woman to be a rules official in the men’s US Open in 1980.

Reflecting on her career, she once said: “I played golf for fun and never considered turning professional. Then I decided it would be more fun to be in golf than physics and Wilson paid me a salary and all my expenses.

“Anybody who can make a living in golf is lucky.

“Then to receive all the benefits accorded to me in the process, well, it makes me feel fortunate. It’s more than I could possibly deserve.”

Rawls played into her 92, getting a new set of clubs aged 90, but stopped when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

In a beautiful obituary on the LPGA website, Ron Sirak said: “History will never know if Betsy Rawls would have been a physicist mentioned with Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, but the dusty pages of time do tell us she was on a par with Kathy Whitworth, Mickey Wright, Annika Sorenstam, Louise Suggs and Patty Berg. Those are the only players to exceed her 55 LPGA Tour wins.

“Rawls’ achievements sprung from a combination of talent, tenacity and trust in herself. Her intellectual detachment allowed her to take emotion out of the game, and that led to her being a relentless champion.

“Physics is all about understanding how the universe works, comprehending how matter moves through space and time.

“Fortunately for golf, Rawls abandoned that pursuit for another seemingly impossible task: manoeuvring a ball around the course and into the hole.

“In that regard, she was an equal to Newton, Einstein and Curie. Golf has its own Theory of Relativity: in the women’s game, Betsy Rawls is in the extremely limited universe of the best ever to play the game.”