Betsy Rawls

Winner of 55 LPGA events, including eight major championships, Betsy Rawls won the 1949 Texas Amateur Championship just four years after taking up golf at age 17, and then repeated again in 1950. She is ranked fourth in LPGA careers wins behind Kathy Whitworth, Mickey Wright and Patty Berg, all who are previous Memorial Tournament honorees.

Rawls joined the LPGA Tour in 1951 after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas. She won three events that year, including the U.S. Women’s Open. In 1952, she was the tour’s leading money winner. From 1951–1962, Rawls won multiple events each year, then in 1959, captured an amazing 10 titles and earned the Vare Trophy during a season in which she set a money-winnings record. The next year, she was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

When Rawls joined the tour, it consisted of about 20 players and 20 tournaments. She served under the legendary Bade Zaharias as LPGA secretary, and also headed the tournament committee that set up the courses, gave rulings, made pairings, kept statistics, did bookkeeping and performed many other duties. During the rest of the year, she typically traveled the country by car with Patty Berg, the two sharing about 120 golf clinics annually.

After retiring in 1975, Rawls began a six-year tenure as the LPGA’s tournament director and head rules official. She was also the first woman to serve on the Rules Committee for the men’s U.S. Open.

In 1995, Rawls received the Sprint Lifetime Achievement Award and in 1996 won the USGA’s highly prized Bob Jones Award for distinguished service. Rawls lives in Wilmington, Delaware, where she served as Executive Director of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship for 23 years. Rawls recently retired and now serves as Vice Chairman of the Board.