# Titleholders Championship

The Titleholders Championship was a women's golf tournament played from in 1937 to 1966 and again in 1972. It was later designated a major championship by the LPGA Tour.

## History

The Titleholders Championship was founded in 1937. Like the Masters Tournament for men, which began a few years earlier, it was played in Augusta, Georgia, but at Augusta Country Club, not at the adjacent Augusta National Golf Club. The winners of various amateur and professional events were invited to take part, although most of the competitors were amateurs. There were very few women professionals at the time and most earned their living as club or teaching professionals.
The Titleholders itself did not offer prize money until 1948, when a prize fund of $600 was introduced, with half of the money going to the professional placing highest in the event. The tournament was discontinued after November 1966, but was revived for one year in 1972, when it was played in May at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. All of these stagings are now recognized as major championships by the LPGA, even though the organization was not founded until 1950.

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Country | Score | Runner(s)-up | Winners' share ($) | Purse ($) | Ref |
| 1972 | Sandra Palmer | United States | 283 | Judy Rankin, Mickey Wright | 3,000 | 20,000 | |
| 1967–1971: No tournament ||||||||
| 1966 | Kathy Whitworth | United States | 291 | Judy Kimball-Simon, Mary Mills | 1,500 | 10,000 | |
| 1965 | Kathy Whitworth | United States | 287 | Peggy Wilson | 1,500 | 10,000 | |
| 1964 | Marilynn Smith | United States | 289 | Mickey Wright | 1,300 | 7,500 | |
| 1963 | Marilynn Smith | United States | 292$^{PO}$ | Mickey Wright | 1,235 | 7,500 | |
| 1962 | Mickey Wright | United States | 295$^{PO}$ | Ruth Jessen | 1,330 | 7,500 | |
| 1961 | Mickey Wright | United States | 299 | Patty Berg, Louise Suggs | 1,200 | 7,000 | |
| 1960 | Fay Crocker | Uruguay | 303 | Kathy Cornelius | 1,140 | 6,000 | |
| 1959 | Louise Suggs | United States | 297 | Betsy Rawls | 1,000 | 5,000 | |
| 1958 | Beverly Hanson | United States | 299 | Betty Dodd | 1,000 | 5,275 | |
| 1957 | Patty Berg | United States | 296 | Anne Quast (a) | 1,000 | 5,000 | |
| 1956 | Louise Suggs | United States | 302 | Patty Berg | 1,000 | 5,000 | |
| 1955 | Patty Berg | United States | 291 | Mary Lena Faulk | 1,000 | 5,000 | |
| 1954 | Louise Suggs | United States | 293 | Patty Berg | 1,000 | 3,000 | |
| 1953 | Patty Berg | United States | 294 | Betsy Rawls | 1,000 | 2,200 | |
| 1952 | Babe Zaharias | United States | 299 | Betsy Rawls | 1,000 | 2,100 | |
| 1951 | Pat O'Sullivan (a) | United States | 301 | Beverly Hanson | | 1,500 | |
| 1950 | Babe Zaharias | United States | 298 | Claire Doran (a) | 700 | 1,500 | |
| 1949 | Peggy Kirk (a) | United States | 299 | Patty Berg, Dorothy Kirby (a) | | | |
| 1948 | Patty Berg | United States | 308 | Peggy Kirk (a), Babe Zaharias | | | |
| 1947 | Babe Zaharias (a) | United States | 304 | Dorothy Kirby (a) | 300 | | |
| 1946 | Louise Suggs (a) | United States | 314 | Eileen Stulb (a) | | | |
| 1943–45 | 1943–45 | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| 1942 | Dorothy Kirby (a) | United States | 239^ | Eileen Stulb (a) | | | |
| 1941 | Dorothy Kirby (a) | United States | 224^ | Helen Sigel | | | |
| 1940 | Helen Hicks (a) | United States | 336 | Helen Dettweiler | | | |
| 1939 | Patty Berg (a) | United States | 319 | Dorothy Kirby (a) | | | |
| 1938 | Patty Berg (a) | United States | 311 | Jane Cothran (a) | | | |
| 1937 | Patty Berg (a) | United States | 240^ | Dorothy Kirby (a) | | | |
(a) - denotes amateur $^{PO}$ - won in playoff ^ - 54 holes

## Multiple winners

This table lists the golfers who have won more than one Titleholders Championship.
* Deceased golfer †
* Grand Slam winners ‡
* Deceased Grand Slam winners ∞
| Country | Golfer | Total | Years |
| United States | Patty Berg † | 7 | 1937, 1938, 1939, 1948, 1953, 1955, 1957 |
| United States | Louise Suggs ∞ | 4 | 1946, 1954, 1956, 1959 |
| United States | Babe Zaharias † | 3 | 1947, 1950, 1952 |
| United States | Dorothy Kirby † | 2 | 1941, 1942 |
| United States | Mickey Wright ‡ | 2 | 1961, 1962 |
| United States | Marilynn Smith † | 2 | 1963, 1964 |
| United States | Kathy Whitworth † | 2 | 1965, 1966 |

### Winners by nationality

This table lists the total number of titles won by golfers of each nationality as a major.
| Nationality | Number of wins |
| United States | 27 |
| Uruguay | 1 |