Because of Her: Patty Berg

There are arguably no women who have contributed more to the game of golf than founder, president and player Patty Berg. She turned professional nearly a decade before the LPGA was founded, and she put her own game second to ensure that the ladies tour was successful.

Berg took up golf at the age of 13 while she was also competing as a speed skater and as the quarterback of her local football team.

Once she devoted herself to golf though, she never looked back and won her first tournament, the Minneapolis City Championship three years later in 1934. She went on to win the 1938 U.S. Women’s Amateur and was a member of the 1936 and 1938 U.S. Curtis Cup teams.

Berg launched her professional career in 1940, but took a break shortly after it began when a knee injury kept her from playing. After rehabilitating her knee, instead of returning to the course, Berg enlisted in the Marines for three years during World War II.

Upon her return to civilian life, she picked up right where she left off on the course and won the inaugural U.S. Women’s Open in 1946. Despite her success on the field, Berg didn’t view golf as just a job.

“I think of golf as a hobby, not a way to make a living,” Berg said in a 1963 interview with Stars and Stripes.

She believed in the opportunities that golf could provide for women though and became a cofounder of the LPGA in 1948. She would go on to serve as the LPGA’s first president from 1950-1952.

From a span from 1948 to 1962, she won 44 professional titles and three Vare Trophies. By the end of her career, she was credited with 60 professional victories with 15 major championships.

One of the most defining aspects of Berg’s game was her ability as a shot maker and it landed her one of the first sponsorships in women’s golf. She toured with Wilson and hosted, by her estimation, roughly 16,000 golf clinics around the world in which she was remembered not only for the shots that she made but also for her sense of humor.

Health problems plagued the end of her professional golf career, but they never really slowed her down. She continued to promote the game and serve as a global ambassador. When she was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1951, she reflected, “I’m very happy I gave up football.”

Berg lost a long battle with Alzheimer’s in 2006, but will never be forgotten by the female golfers that she paved a path for. The LPGA honors the golfer who has made the greatest contribution to women’s golf during each year with the Patty Berg Award.

For her final big public appearance, Berg served as the honorary chair of the Solheim Cup in 2002. Her contributions to the game as a player, leader and ambassador are too many to count, but she impressed everyone she met just by being herself.

“Don’t think you really win until you live up to that high thing within you that makes you do your best no matter what,” Berg said.

Thank you Patty Berg!