Betsy Rawls
| Betsy Rawls | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Elizabeth Earle Rawls |
| Nickname | Betsy |
| Born |
May 4, 1928 Spartanburg, South Carolina |
| Nationality |
 United States
|
| Career | |
| College | University of Texas |
| Turned professional | 1951 |
| Retired | 1975 |
| Former tour(s) | LPGA Tour (joined 1951) |
| Professional wins | 58 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| LPGA Tour | 55 |
| Other | 3 |
| Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 8) |
|
| Western Open | Won: 1952, 1959 |
| Titleholders C'ship | 2nd: 1952, 1953, 1959 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 1959, 1969 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 1951, 1953, 1957, 1960 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1960 (member page) |
| LPGA Tour Money Winner |
1952, 1959 |
| LPGA Vare Trophy | 1959 |
| Patty Berg Award | 1980 |
| Bob Jones Award | 1996 |
| LPGA 50th Anniversary Commissioner's Award |
2000 |
Elizabeth Earle "Betsy" Rawls (born May 4, 1928) is an American former LPGA Tour professional golfer. She won eight major championship and 55 LPGA Tour career events. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Rawls was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina and grew up in Arlington, Texas. She attended the University of Texas. She started playing golf at age 17. She won the Texas Amateur in 1949 and 1950. She also won the 1949 Trans-National and the 1950 Broadmoor Invitational. In 1950, she finished second at the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur.
Rawls turned professional in 1951 and joined the LPGA Tour. She won her first tournament that year at the Sacramento Women's Invitational Open. She would go on to win a total of 55 events on the LPGA Tour, including eight major championships. In 1959, she earned the LPGA Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. She was the tour's leading money winner in 1952 and 1959 and finished in the top ten on the money list a total of nine times. She led the tour in wins three times, 1952 with eight, 1957 with five (tied with Patty Berg), and 1959 with ten.
Rawls was the LPGA's president from 1961 to 1962. In 1967, when the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame was created, she was one of the six inaugural inductees. The LPGA recognized her induction year into the Hall of Fame of Women’s Golf, 1960, as her official induction year into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame. Following her retirement from tournament play in 1975, she became a tournament director for the LPGA Tour. In 1996, she was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women in 2006.
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