Dottie Pepper

Last updated

Dottie Pepper
Personal information
Born (1965-08-17) August 17, 1965 (age 58)
Saratoga Springs, New York
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Saratoga Springs, New York
Career
College Furman University
Turned professional1988
Former tour(s) LPGA Tour (1988–2004)
Professional wins25
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour17
LPGA of Japan Tour1
Epson Tour1
Other6
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 2)
Chevron Championship Won: 1992, 1999
Women's PGA C'ship T5: 1992
U.S. Women's Open 3rd/T3: 1988, 1990, 2001
du Maurier Classic 4th: 1993
Women's British Open T24: 2003
Achievements and awards
LPGA Tour
Money Winner
1992
LPGA Tour
Player of the Year
1992
LPGA Vare Trophy 1992
GWAA Female
Player of the Year
1992
Best Female Golfer
ESPY Award
1993
GWAA William D.
Richardson Award
2016
New York State Golf
Assoc. Hall of Fame
2018
Old Tom Morris Award 2024

Dottie Pepper (born August 17, 1965) is an American professional golfer and television golf broadcaster. From 1988 to 1995 she competed as Dottie Mochrie, which was her married name before a divorce. She won two major championships and 17 LPGA Tour events in all.

Contents

Amateur career

Pepper was born in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her father, Don, was a major league baseball player, who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a "rookie to watch", along with Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, in 1968. Her career began with big amateur victories in her home state of New York. She won the 1981 state amateur and the 1981 and 1983 New York Junior Amateur titles. She was a member of the 1981 Junior World Cup team and low amateur at the 1984 U.S. Women's Open. She attended Furman University, where she earned five collegiate victories and was named All-American three times.

Professional career

Pepper joined the LPGA Tour in 1988 and won 17 official events on the Tour, including two major championships: the 1992 and 1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore. Her 19-under-par finish in the 1999 victory still stands as the lowest score in relation to par in a major championship. She topped the money list in 1992 and finished in the top ten in ten of eleven seasons between 1991 and 2001. Pepper also played for the United States in the Solheim Cup six times.

Due to injury problems, Pepper played only one tournament in 2002. In July 2004 she announced that she would retire at the end of the season. In 2005, she began work as a golf commentator for NBC and The Golf Channel, reporting on both men's and women's events.

During the 2007 Solheim Cup, Pepper caused some stir while working as commentator for the Golf Channel. She called the American team "choking freaking dogs". She thought the network had cut to commercial when the comment was uttered, but it was actually still broadcasting live. Some players and fans were upset by this and Pepper quickly apologized for her "poor choice of words". [1]

In July 2012 Pepper was named by captain Meg Mallon as one of two assistant captains for the U.S. Team at the 2013 Solheim Cup. [2]

Pepper retired from commentating in December 2012, tired of the traveling and wanting to spend more time promoting junior golf as a PGA of America board member. [3] In May 2013, she signed a contract with ESPN to return to commentating on a limited basis, working mainly major tournaments on the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours. [4] In October 2015, Pepper was signed to a contract with CBS, replacing David Feherty who had left the network to work for NBC and to continue his Feherty series on the Golf Channel. She took up Feherty's role as on-course reporter as well as doing occasional tower announcing. [5]

Pepper served as a member of the PGA of America Board of Directors from 2012 to 2015, and the NENY PGA Board of Directors from 2009 to 2015. She was the recipient of the 2016 William D. Richardson Award, presented by the Golf Writers Association of America for her consistently outstanding contributions to golf. She is also a 2018 inductee to the New York State Golf Association Hall of Fame. [6] The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America awarded Pepper with its highest honor, the Old Tom Morris Award, in 2024, for her continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf, and helping mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris. [7]

Personal life

Pepper resides in Saratoga Springs, New York with her third husband, golf writer and historian David Normoyle. They were married in May 2010. [8]

Professional wins (25)

LPGA Tour wins (17)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1Jan 29, 1989 Oldsmobile LPGA Classic −9 (69-74-67-69=279)Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Beth Daniel
2May 13, 1990 Crestar Classic −16 (67-65-68=200)9 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Chris Johnson
3Mar 29, 1992 Nabisco Dinah Shore −9 (69-71-70-69=279)Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Juli Inkster
4Apr 19, 1992 Sega Women's Championship −11 (70-69-68-70=277)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Danielle Ammaccapane
5Aug 2, 1992 Welch's Classic −10 (72-67-69-70=278)3 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Stephanie Farwig
6Aug 30, 1992 Sun-Times Challenge Even (71-72-73=216)Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Beth Daniel
Flag of the United States.svg Judy Dickinson
7Oct 19, 1993 World Championship of Women's Golf −4 (72-71-69-72=284)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Donna Andrews
Flag of the United States.svg Meg Mallon
Flag of the United States.svg Michelle McGann
Flag of the United States.svg Sherri Steinhauer
8Mar 5, 1994 Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions −1 (72-75-71-69=287)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Nancy Lopez
Flag of the United States.svg Lauri Merten
9Mar 12, 1995 PING/Welch's Championship (Tucson) −10 (70-68-72-68=278)3 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Cindy Rarick
Flag of Sweden.svg Annika Sörenstam
10Aug 6, 1995 McCall's LPGA Classic −12 (69-67-68=204)3 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Kelly Robbins
11Jun 23, 1996 Rochester International −10 (69-66-71=206)2 strokes Flag of Sweden.svg Annika Sörenstam
12Jun 30, 1996 ShopRite LPGA Classic −11 (67-66-69=202)4 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Amy Benz
13Jul 21, 1996 Friendly's Classic −9 (68-69-73-69=279)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Brandie Burton
14Sep 8, 1996 Safeway LPGA Golf Championship −14 (65-70-67=202)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Chris Johnson
15Mar 28, 1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore −19 (70-66-67-66=269)6 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Meg Mallon
16Aug 29, 1999 Oldsmobile Classic −18 (67-63-70-70=270)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Kelli Kuehne
17Nov 19, 2000 Arch Wireless Championship −9 (68-71-69-71=279)3 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rachel Hetherington

LPGA Tour playoff record (3–5)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
11989 Oldsmobile LPGA Classic Flag of the United States.svg Beth Daniel Won with par on fifth extra hole
21992 Nabisco Dinah Shore Flag of the United States.svg Juli Inkster Won with par on first extra hole
31992 Sun-Times Challenge Flag of the United States.svg Beth Daniel
Flag of the United States.svg Judy Dickinson
Pepper won with par on sixth extra hole
Daniel eliminated by par on fourth hole
41993 PING/Welch's Championship (Massachusetts) Flag of the United States.svg Missie Berteotti Lost to birdie on fifth extra hole
51993 State Farm Rail Classic Flag of England.svg Helen Dobson Lost to birdie on fifth extra hole
61995 Pinewild Women's Championship Flag of the United States.svg Rosie Jones Lost to birdie on first extra hole
71998 Star Bank LPGA Classic Flag of the United States.svg Meg Mallon Lost to par on first extra hole
82000 AFLAC Champions Flag of Australia (converted).svg Karrie Webb Lost to par on first extra hole

LPGA majors are shown in bold.

Futures Tour wins (1)

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (6)

Major championships

Wins (2)

YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1992 Nabisco Dinah Shore −9 (69-71-70-69=279)Playoff 1 Flag of the United States.svg Juli Inkster
1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore −19 (70-66-67-66=269)6 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Meg Mallon

1 Defeated Inkster with par on first extra hole.

Results timeline

Tournament198419851986198719881989
Kraft Nabisco Championship T7T66
LPGA Championship T45T39
U.S. Women's Open T22T5578T12T3T5
du Maurier Classic T35T18
Tournament19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000
Kraft Nabisco Championship T1121T30T19T11T23T11T912
LPGA Championship T53T22T5T30T11T6T26T37CUTT19T23
U.S. Women's Open T3T5T6T17T12T13CUTT14T11T14WD
du Maurier Classic T27T6T204T14T12T27T14T34
Tournament200120022003 2004
Kraft Nabisco Championship T2T51T24
LPGA Championship T17T67T70
U.S. Women's Open 3WDWD
Women's British Open ^CUTT24

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

YearTotal
matches
Total
W-L-H
Points
won
Points
%
Career2013–5–21470%
1990 32–1–0267%
1992 30–2–10.517%
1994 33–0–03100%
1996 43–1–0375%
1998 44–0–04100%
2000 31–1–11.550%

See also

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References

  1. Pells, Eddie. "Pepper Adds Spice to Solheim Cup". newsvine. Associated Press. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  2. DiMeglio, Steve (July 4, 2012). "Dottie Pepper named assistant captain for Solheim Cup". USA Today . Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  3. "Dottie Pepper moves on from TV golf". USA Today. Associated Press. December 18, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  4. "Dottie Pepper returns to TV on ESPN". ESPN. May 15, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  5. Porter, Kyle (October 14, 2015). "Dottie Pepper hired to cover golf for CBS in 2016". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  6. "About Dottie Pepper". www.dottiepepper.net. 2018.
  7. "Dottie Pepper to receive GCSAA's Old Tom Morris Award". www.gcsaa.org. November 14, 2023.
  8. Dougherty, Pete (June 30, 2010). "Pepper back home in Saratoga". The Albany Times Union . Retrieved April 8, 2013.