Berg, LPGA Founder, Dies At 88

Mickey Wright: She Didn't Get Due As Fine Golfer

September 10, 2006

By Rhonda Glenn , USGA

Patty Berg , 88, the first United States Women's Open Champion, first president of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, and one of golf's greatest ambassadors, died in Ft. Myers, Fla., Sunday.

Patty Berg celebrates with the Women's Amateur trophy after winning in 1938. (USGA Photo Archives)

She won the 1938 United States Women's Amateur Championship, one of 28 career amateur championship victories in a seven-year period.  As a professional, Berg had 60 career victories, including a record 15 major championships, three as an amateur.  She was a member of two USA Curtis Cup teams, in 1936 and 1938.

She turned professional in 1940 at the behest of the Wilson Sporting Goods Company and represented the company in hundreds of clinics and exhibitions promoting Wilson golf equipment.  Over the years, a multitude of golf fans heard her comedic routines and solid golf knowledge in performances in the United States and in Japan .

"She carried the name of Wilson and the LPGA into every corner of the golfing world," said Betsy Rawls . "People came to see her time after time, always laughing at the jokes, always admiring the crisp shots, and always loving Patty Berg ."

Although she was one of the most skilled players in history, Berg's big personality nearly overshadowed her talent and she was much in demand for public appearances long after she competed in her last tournament, in 1980.

Berg wracked up one of the finest amateur and professional records in the game.  When she played in the first U.S. Women's Open in 1946, it was conducted under the auspices of the Women's Professional Golf Association and she survived a grueling week of match play to become champion.

Patty Berg and Babe Zaharias, friends off the course, share a light moment. (USGA Photo Archives)

"Thirty-six holes of qualifying, then the matches, then finally a 36-hole semifinal match and a 36-hole final (against Betty Jameson )," Berg later recalled, "Whew!  That was a lotta goff!"

Patricia Jane Berg was born Feb. 13, 1918 in Minneapolis, Minn. A champion ice skater as a youngster, Berg's legend included a childhood stint as the quarterback of the "50th Street Tigers," a neighborhood football team that featured Bud Wilkinson at tackle.  "We only had one play - 22," she recalled. "I'd yell, '22!' and everyone would run every which way."

Berg turned to golf at the age of 13, ("My mother didn't see any future in football for me.") and honed her skills at Interlochen Country Club.  She always pointed to winning the 1934 Minneapolis Women's City Championship as a 16 year old as the turning point of her competitive golf career.

In the 1930s, her father, Herman Berg Sr. , encouraged her philanthropy and arranged fund-raising golf exhibitions for Patty and other young athletes.  The small gang barnstormed the Midwest raising money for charity.  It was in these appearances that Berg acquired the rollicking, wise-cracking style that entertained crowds.

Berg's Honors

University of Minnesota Patty Berg Development Fund

LPGA Hall of Fame

World Golf Hall of Fame

LPGA Teaching & Club Pro Hall of Fame

PGA of America Hall of Fame

Women's Sports Hall of Fame

University of Minnesota Hall of Fame

American Sports Hall of Fame

Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame

Florida Sports Hall of Fame

Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year 1938, 1945, 1955

1959: William D. Richardson Award, Golf Writers Association of America

1963: Bob Jones Award, United States Golf Association,

1975: Joe Graffis Award, National Golf Foundation

1975: Ben Hogan Award, Golf Writers Association of America

1976: Humanitarian Sports Award, United Cerebral Palsy Association

1978: Gold Tee Award, Metropolitan Golf Writers

1981: Herb Graffis Award, National Golf Foundation

1982: Charles Bartlett Award, Golf Writers Association of America

1983: National Golf Foundation Honorary Consultant

1987: Female Contributor to Sports Award, United States Sports Academy

1988: 100 Heroes of the Game, Golf Magazine

1988: Golfer of the Decade, (1938-47) Golf Magazine

1988: Honoree, Jack Nicklaus ' Memorial Tournament

1990: Patty Berg Award, LPGA

1991: All-American Collegiate Hall of Fame

1993: Patty Berg Cancer Center dedicated

1994: Meritorious Golf Award

1994: Courage Award

1994: Van Patrick Lifetime Achievement Award

1995: Distinguished Service Award, PGA

1995: Big Ten Centennial Award

1995: University of Minnesota Women's Athletics Department Hall of Fame

1995: Sisterhood Award

1995: National Conference of Christians and Jews Award

1995: EWG Leadership Award, Executive Women's Golf League

1996: Warren J. Rebholz Distinguished Service Award

1997: Sprint Lifetime Achievement Award

1998: National Golf Course Owners Association Award of Merit

2000: 50 Greatest Golfers of All Time, Golf Digest

2000: LPGA Top 50 Teachers and Players

2000: Solheim Cup Honorary Chairperson

2003: U.S. Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame

2005: Distinguished Achievement Award, The Fisher Center of Alzheimer's Research Foundation
Her amateur career was virtually unequalled and she became the first to win the Women's Western Amateur, the Women's Trans-Mississippi and the U.S. Women's Amateur in the same year in, a feat matched only by Grace Park in 1998.  She won five straight Helen Lee Doherty championships (1936-40).  As an amateur she won three straight Titleholders (1937-39), a major championship open to professionals.

During World War II (1942-45), Berg was a lieutenant in the Women's Marine Corps, assigned to recruiting duties.

As a pro, Berg first competed in the few events conducted by the Women's Professional Golf Association, an organization eventually supplanted by the Ladies Professional Golf Association.

The LPGA was founded in 1950 after Berg, promoter Fred Corcoran , Babe Zaharias and her husband George Zaharias met in Miami and determined that women's professional golf needed to be run on a business-like basis.  The LPGA began with Corcoran as Tournament Director and 13 founding players, with Berg serving as the association's first president, in 1950 and '51.

A good friend of Babe Zaharias, Berg and "The Babe," whose dramatic antics often overshadowed Berg, entertained budding women's golf fans in exhibitions and went head-to-head in professional tournaments, most notably the series of tournaments sponsored by Weathervane. It was where Berg prevailed in the season-ending 144-hole Weathervane in 1951.

" Patty got kicked under the rug because of Babe," said Mickey Wright . "As a player, as someone who knew golf, all aspects of it, I really don't think she got her due as the fine golfer she was."

Using a solid, powerful swing, Berg's game had no weaknesses.  She was a great shot-maker, a master bunker player, imaginative around the greens, and wielded her putter with distinction.  She was also a crafty competitor.

"It was nothing for Patty to let you look in her bag to see what she was hitting, which of course you weren't supposed to do," said one veteran player.  "Then she might hit the club full, or three-quarter, or half-speed.  When you tried to do the same thing, with the same club, you'd either be over the green or short in the bunker.  She'd look at you with a little smirk and after you did that a few times, you'd never look in her bag again."

Berg's major championship wins included seven Women's Western Open titles (1941, '43, '48, '51, '55, '57, '58), seven Titleholders Championships (1937, '38, '39, '48, '53, '55, '57), and the 1946 Women's Open.  She won the LPGA's Vare trophy for the season's lowest scoring average in 1953, '55 and '56.

Throughout her life, the dynamic redhead, nicknamed "Dynamite Berg," promoted the LPGA Tour.  One of the highlights of any tournament week in the 1950s and '60s was "The Patty Berg Swing Parade," which encouraged tournament ticket sales.  In this exhibition, Berg lined up her fellow players on the practice tee, narrating while they hit shots.  A rookie was always required to hit the 2-iron.

Barbara Romack , who joined the tour in 1959, said of her rookie appearance in Berg's Swing Parade: "I only had to hit the 2-iron once because I showered Patty with mud.  After that, I graduated to a 3-iron, and she insisted that I hit it off a golf tee.

"Peggy Kirk Bell used to have a bad shank whenever she appeared in the Swing Parade. When it was Peggy 's turn, Patty would talk about shanking, introduce Peggy , and then yell to the spectators, 'Stand back on the right if you value your life!' After that, Peggy couldn't help but shank."

"The Patty Berg Swing Parade," an annual golf clinic for spectators at recent U.S. Women's Open Championships, was officially named in Berg's honor by the USGA in 2004.

Berg was the dean of the women staff members signed by Wilson Sporting Goods and she coached rookie staffers such as Mickey Wright , Betsy Rawls , Carol Mann and Kathy Whitworth in how to conduct golf clinics.  Her toughness as a taskmaster was legendary, but at the same time she taught the women solid golf techniques.

Barely topping 5'2" and inclined to stoutness because of a thyroid ailment, Berg was undaunted by several serious health problems.  In 1941, she was sidelined for 18 months by an automobile accident that resulted in a severe knee injury.  Over the years she persevered despite cancer and back surgeries and a hip replacement, continuing her round of public appearances until she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2005.

A hard-charging advocate of women's professional golf throughout her life, Berg praised the LPGA to countless reporters until her final illness. "Every one of these girls has done a great public relations job," she would say, "and the LPGA is just going to get bigger and bigger and better and better."

She raised untold amounts of money for charity and was known as the caddie's best friend, putting several through college.

As a public speaker, she had no equal among golfers.  Her speech, "What It Takes to Become a Champion," delivered in ringing tones, inspired hundreds of appreciative audiences over a 50-year period.  In that speech, she listed what she considered to be championship qualities, elaborating on each one.

The qualities were: desire, dedication, determination, self-control, the will to win and not the wish to win, never giving up and faith in God.

To those of us fortunate enough to have known her well, Patty Berg had all of those qualities, and so much more.

Rhonda Glenn is a Manager of USGA Communications. E-mail her with questions or comments at rglenn@usga.org.