Kathy Cornelius

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Kathy Cornelius
Personal information
Full nameKathy McKinnon Cornelius
Born (1932-10-27) October 27, 1932 (age 92)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Arizona, U.S.
SpouseBill Cornelius (m. 1953)
Career
College Florida Southern College
Turned professional1953
Former tour(s) LPGA Tour (1956–1985)
Professional wins8
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour6
Other2
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 1)
Western Open 6th: 1959, 1961
Titleholders C'ship 2nd: 1960
Chevron Championship T62: 1983
Women's PGA C'ship T5: 1965
U.S. Women's Open Won: 1956
du Maurier Classic DNP

Kathy Cornelius (née McKinnon, [1] born October 27, 1932) is an American professional golfer.

Contents

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Cornelius attended Florida Southern College, where she played on the men's golf team, as the school did not have a women's team at the time. She turned pro in 1953 and married golf pro Bill Cornelius the same year. She joined the LPGA Tour in 1956 and won two events in her rookie season, including the U.S. Women's Open, which was to be her only major championship. She won six LPGA Tour titles in total and had her highest money list finish in 1973, when she came eighth. She made the top-20 of the money list twelve times in total (1957–65 and 1971–73).

In 1985, Kathy and her husband founded Magique Golf, a golf club company based in Arizona, which they ran until 1999. She later taught golf part-time at Rio Salado Golf Course in Tempe, Arizona.[ citation needed ] Her daughter, Kay, won the 1981 U.S. Girls' Junior, making them the only mother-daughter pair to win USGA championships. [2] [3]

Professional wins (8)

LPGA Tour wins (6)

Other wins (2)

Major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1956 U.S. Women's Open +7 (73-77-73-79=302)Playoff1 Flag of the United States.svg Barbara McIntire (a)

1 In an 18-hole playoff, Cornelius 75, McIntire 82.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Lopez</span> American professional golfer

Nancy Marie Lopez is an American former professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships.

Heather Farr was an American professional golfer on the LPGA Tour.

Kathrynne Ann Whitworth 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 93 times, giving her 181 top-two finishes. In 1981, she became the first woman to reach career earnings of $1 million on the LPGA Tour. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juli Inkster</span> American professional golfer

Juli Inkster is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. With a professional career spanning 29 years to date, Inkster's 31 wins rank her second in wins among all active players on the LPGA Tour; she has over $14 million in career earnings. She also has more wins in Solheim Cup matches than any other American, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Inkster is the only golfer in LPGA Tour history to win two majors in a decade for three consecutive decades by winning three in the 1980s, two in the 1990s, and two in the 2000s.

JoAnne Gunderson Carner is an American former professional golfer. Her 43 victories on the LPGA Tour led to her induction in the World Golf Hall of Fame. She is the only woman to have won the U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Women's Amateur, and U.S. Women's Open titles, and was the first person to win three different USGA championship events. Tiger Woods is the only man to have won the equivalent three USGA titles. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Carol Semple Thompson have also won three different USGA titles.

Donna Caponi-Byrnes is an American LPGA Tour 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betsy Rawls</span> American professional golfer (1928–2023)

Elizabeth Earle Rawls was an American professional golfer who played on LPGA Tour. She won eight major championships and 55 LPGA Tour career events. She was a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Barbara Jane Blalock is an American business executive and retired professional golfer. After winning several New England golf tournaments in her youth, Blalock joined the LPGA Tour as a professional in 1969, being named LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 1969 and Most Improved Golfer in 1970 and 1971. She won the historically notable Dinah Shore Colgate Winner's Circle in 1972, earning "the richest prize in women's golf history." After successfully fighting a suspension from the LPGA for allegedly signing an incorrect scorecard a month after Dinah Shore, by 1977 she was the sixth-highest paid female golfer of all time. The Evening Independent described her as "one of the foremost women golfers of her time" the following year. Nursing a herniated disc, Blalock failed to win a tournament from 1981 until 1984, though after two wins in 1985 she was named Comeback Player of the Year by Golf Digest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marilynn Smith</span> American professional golfer (1929–2019)

Marilynn Louise Smith was an American professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950. She won two major championships and 21 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Suzanne Maxwell Berning was an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1964 and won four major championships and eleven LPGA Tour victories in all. She also competed under her maiden name Susie Maxwell from 1964 to 1968. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2022.

Shirley Ruth Englehorn was an American professional golfer. Nicknamed "Dimples", she won 11 tournaments during her LPGA Tour career, including one major, the 1970 LPGA Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathy Ahern</span> American professional golfer

Kathy Ahern was an American professional golfer on the LPGA Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Dettweiler</span> American professional golfer (1914–1990)

Elizabeth Helen Dettweiler was an American professional golfer. She was one of the co-founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. She won the Women's Western Open in 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rancho Park Golf Course</span> Municipal golf course

Rancho Park Golf Course is a municipal golf course in the western United States, located in southern California in the city of Los Angeles. Owned and operated by the city's Department of Recreation and Parks, the par-71 course in the Cheviot Hills neighborhood was designed by William P. Bell & William H. Johnson in 1947. The fairways are Bermuda Grass and the greens are Bent Grass.

The 1972 LPGA Tour was the 23rd season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 7 to November 5. The season consisted of 29 official money events. Kathy Whitworth won the most tournaments, five. Whitworth led the money list with earnings of $65,063.

Ginger Howard is an American professional golfer. At the age of 17, she was the youngest African American golfer to turn professional. In 2010, she was the first-ever Black golfer to play on a Junior Ryder Cup team, helping Team USA to win the title in Scotland. She later became one of four African American golfers playing in the 2016 LPGA Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fay Crocker</span> Uruguayan professional golfer

Fay Crocker was a Uruguayan professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. In her career, she won 11 LPGA tournaments, including two major championships, the 1955 U.S. Women's Open and 1960 Titleholders Championship. Crocker was the oldest player to win her first LPGA event, the first U.S. Women's Open champion from outside the United States, and the oldest women's major champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 U.S. Senior Women's Open</span> Golf tournament

The 2021 U.S. Senior Women's Open was the third U.S. Senior Women's Open. It was a professional golf tournament organized by the United States Golf Association, open to women over 50 years of age. The championship was played at the Brooklawn Country Club, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States, from July 29 to August 1 and won by Annika Sörenstam.

References

  1. Foster, Jim (April 27, 1957). "Kathy Cornelius had fast rise to LPGA championship". Spartanburg Herald-Journal . p. B2. Retrieved June 22, 2016 via Google News Archive.
  2. "2012 United States Golf Association Championships Media Guide" (PDF). USGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  3. Nichols, Beth Ann (May 8, 2022). "Meet Kathy and Kay Cornelius, the only mother-daughter pair in history to win USGA championships". Golfweek.
  4. "Kathy Cornelius Bags Record Win". The Los Angeles Times. AP. February 20, 1956. p. 2 (Part 4). Retrieved March 7, 2021 via newspapers.com.
  5. "Cornelius Cops Golf Title". The Los Angeles Times. UPI. September 7, 1959. p. 5 (Part 4). Retrieved March 7, 2021 via newspapers.com.
  6. "Kathy Cornelius Wins Golf Tourney". The Los Angeles Times. UPI. July 17, 1961. p. 2 (Part 4). Retrieved March 7, 2021 via newspapers.com.
  7. "Kathy Cornelius Gains First Win in 10 Years". The Los Angeles Times. UPI. May 22, 1972. p. 3 (Part 3). Retrieved March 7, 2021 via newspapers.com.
  8. "Cornelius Wins Sealy in Playoff With Rankin". The Los Angeles Times. UPI. June 4, 1973. p. 2 (Part 3). Retrieved March 7, 2021 via newspapers.com.