Sally Little - Misplaced Pages

Sally Little (born 12 October 1951) is a South African-born professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1971 and won 15 LPGA Tour events, including two major championship, during her career. In 2016, she became the first female golfer from South Africa inducted into the South African Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Little was born in Cape Town. As a girl, Gary Player encouraged her to play golf. Little originally resisted but after she broke her leg at the age of 15 golf was the only sport she could play. She began playing golf the following year. Little told the The Plain Dealer, "Gary encouraged me when I was 13, but I didn't listen until I was 16. I broke my leg when I was 15 and could only play golf and became interested."

Amateur career

She was the low individual at the 1970 World Amateur Team Championship and won the South African Match Play and Stroke Play titles that same year. As an amateur, she tied for fifth at the 1971 Lady Carling Open.

Professional career

Little joined the LPGA Tour in 1971 and was named LPGA Rookie of the Year. Her first professional win was at the 1976 Women's International. Little holed a shot from a greenside bunker on the 72nd hole to edge Jan Stephenson by one shot.

Little's best season was 1982, when she finished third on the money list. That year, in August, she also became a United States citizen.

She has won 15 times on the tour, including two major championships, the 1988 du Maurier Classic and the 1980 LPGA Championship.

Awards and honors

In 1989, she earned the Ben Hogan Award from the Golf Writers Association of America
In 2000, she was recognized during the LPGA's 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA's top-50 players and teachers.

Professional wins

LPGA Tour (15)

Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (2)
Other LPGA Tour (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	9 May 1976	Women's International	−7 (71-69-71-70=281)	1 stroke	Jan Stephenson
2	19 Mar 1978	Kathryn Crosby/Honda Civic Classic	−6 (77-70-70-65=282)	Playoff	Nancy Lopez
3	4 Mar 1979	Bent Tree Classic	−10 (72-67-72-67=278)	2 strokes	Nancy Lopez
4	20 Aug 1979	Barth Classic	−8 (68-69-71=208)	1 stroke	Pat Bradley
5	9 Sep 1979	Columbia Savings Classic	−7 (66-71-72=209)	2 strokes	Beth Daniel Judy Rankin
6	8 Jun 1980	LPGA Championship	−3 (69-70-73-73=285)	3 strokes	Jane Blalock
7	27 Jul 1980	WUI Classic	−4 (69-71-69-75=284)	4 strokes	Amy Alcott Beth Daniel
8	8 Feb 1981	Elizabeth Arden Classic	−5 (71-72-72-68=283)	Playoff	JoAnne Carner Judy Rankin
9	2 Mar 1981	Olympia Gold Classic	−4 (71-71=142)	1 stroke	Lori Garbacz Kathy Whitworth
10	3 May 1981	CPC Women's International	−1 (73-71-73-70=287)	Playoff	Hollis Stacy Kathy Whitworth
11	15 Mar 1982	Olympia Gold Classic	−4 (75-74-69-70=288)	2 strokes	Donna White
12	4 Apr 1982	Nabisco Dinah Shore Invitational	−10 (76-67-71-64=278)	3 strokes	Sandra Haynie Hollis Stacy
13	9 May 1982	United Virginia Bank Classic	−11 (72-69-67=208)	Playoff	Kathy Whitworth
14	18 Jul 1982	Mayflower Classic	−13 (71-66-70-68=275)	5 strokes	Beth Daniel
15	3 Jul 1988	du Maurier Classic	−9 (74-65-69-71=279)	1 stroke	Laura Davies

Note: Little won the Nabisco Dinah Shore Invitational (now known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship) before it became a major championship.

LPGA Tour playoff record (4–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1978	Kathryn Crosby/Honda Civic Classic	Nancy Lopez	Won with par on first extra hole
2	1981	Elizabeth Arden Classic	JoAnne Carner Judy Rankin	Won with par on third extra hole Carner eliminated by par on second hole
3	1981	CPC Women's International	Hollis Stacy Kathy Whitworth	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1982	Arizona Copper Classic	Ayako Okamoto	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
5	1982	United Virginia Bank Classic	Kathy Whitworth	Won with birdie on first extra hole
6	1986	U.S. Women's Open	Jane Geddes	Lost 18-hole playoff (Geddes:71, Little:73)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1980	LPGA Championship	−3 (69-70-73-73=285)	3 strokes	Jane Blalock
1988	du Maurier Classic	−9 (74-65-69-71=279)	1 stroke	Laura Davies

Team appearances

Amateur

Espirito Santo Trophy (representing South Africa): 1970

Professional

Handa Cup (representing World team): 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (tie)

References

"Sally Little First Female Golfer Inducted Into South African Hall of Fame". LPGA. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
"Feb 10, 1974, page 61 - The Plain Dealer at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
Sand Trap shot wins for Little

External links

Sally Little at the LPGA Tour official site
Sally Little at the Legends Tour official site (also at former site)
Sally Little at golf.about.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 November 2007)

v t e Women's PGA Championship champions
1955 Beverly Hanson‡ 1956 Marlene Hagge† 1957 Louise Suggs 1958 Mickey Wright‡ 1959 Betsy Rawls 1960 Mickey Wright 1961 Mickey Wright‡ 1962 Judy Kimball‡ 1963 Mickey Wright 1964 Mary Mills 1965 Sandra Haynie 1966 Gloria Ehret 1967‡ Kathy Whitworth‡ 1968 Sandra Post†‡ 1969 Betsy Rawls 1970 Shirley Englehorn† 1971 Kathy Whitworth 1972 Kathy Ahern 1973 Mary Mills 1974 Sandra Haynie 1975 Kathy Whitworth 1976 Betty Burfeindt 1977 Hisako Higuchi 1978 Nancy Lopez 1979 Donna Caponi 1980 Sally Little 1981 Donna Caponi 1982 Jan Stephenson‡ 1983 Patty Sheehan 1984 Patty Sheehan 1985 Nancy Lopez‡ 1986 Pat Bradley 1987 Jane Geddes 1988 Sherri Turner 1989 Nancy Lopez 1990 Beth Daniel 1991 Meg Mallon 1992 Betsy King‡ 1993 Patty Sheehan 1994 Laura Davies 1995 Kelly Robbins 1996 Laura Davies 1997 Christa Johnson† 1998 Se-ri Pak‡ 1999 Juli Inkster 2000 Juli Inkster† 2001 Karrie Webb 2002 Se-ri Pak 2003 Annika Sörenstam† 2004 Annika Sörenstam 2005 Annika Sörenstam 2006 Se-ri Pak† 2007 Suzann Pettersen 2008 Yani Tseng† 2009 Anna Nordqvist 2010 Cristie Kerr‡ 2011 Yani Tseng‡ 2012 Shanshan Feng 2013 Inbee Park† 2014 Inbee Park† 2015 Inbee Park 2016 Brooke Henderson† 2017 Danielle Kang 2018 Park Sung-hyun† 2019 Hannah Green‡ 2020 Kim Sei-young 2021 Nelly Korda 2022 Chun In-gee 2023 Yin Ruoning 2024 Amy Yang
† event won in a playoff; ‡ event won wire-to-wire

Women's PGA Championship champions

† event won in a playoff; ‡ event won wire-to-wire

v t e Canadian Women's Open champions in Major era (1979-2000)
1979 Amy Alcott 1980 Pat Bradley 1981 Jan Stephenson 1982 Sandra Haynie 1983 Hollis Stacy 1984 Juli Inkster 1985 Pat Bradley 1986 Pat Bradley† 1987 Jody Rosenthal 1988 Sally Little 1989 Tammie Green 1990 Cathy Johnston 1991 Nancy Scranton 1992 Sherri Steinhauer 1993 Brandie Burton† 1994 Martha Nause 1995 Jenny Lidback 1996 Laura Davies 1997 Colleen Walker 1998 Brandie Burton 1999 Karrie Webb 2000 Meg Mallon
† indicates the event was won in a playoff

Canadian Women's Open champions in Major era (1979-2000)

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

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