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Nancy Lopez
Personal information
Born	January 6, 1957 (1957-01-06) (age 53) Torrance, California, U.S.A.
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Albany, Georgia, U.S.A.
Spouse	Tim Melton (1979–1982) Ray Knight (since 1982)
Children	Ashley (b. 1983), Erinn (b. 1986), Torri (b. 1991)
Career
College	University of Tulsa (two years)
Turned professional	1977
Retired	2003, unretired 2007
Current tour(s)	LPGA Tour
Professional wins	50
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	48
Other	2
Best results in LPGA Major Championships (Wins: 3)
Kraft Nabisco C'ship	T3rd 1995
LPGA Championship	Won 1978, 1985, 1989
U.S. Women's Open	2nd 1977, 1989, 1997 T2nd 1975
du Maurier Classic	2nd 1979 T2nd 1981, 1996
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1987 (member page)
LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year	1978
LPGA Tour Player of the Year	1978, 1979, 1985, 1988
LPGA Vare Trophy	1978, 1979, 1985
LPGA Tour Money Winner	1978, 1979, 1985
GWAA Female Player of the Year	1978, 1979, 1985
AP Female Athlete of the Year	1978, 1985
LPGA William and Mousie Powell Award	1987
Flo Hyman Memorial Award	1992
USGA Bob Jones Award	1998
GCSAA Old Tom Morris Award	2000

Nancy Lopez (born January 6, 1957) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events during her LPGA career, including three major championships.

Amateur career

She won the New Mexico Women's Amateur at age 12, and the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship in 1972 and 1974, at ages 15 and 17, respectively. Playing in the U.S. Women's Open as an 18-year-old amateur in 1975, she finished tied for second. In 1976, Lopez was named All-American and Female Athlete of the Year for her play at the University of Tulsa. She won the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championship and was a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup and World Amateur teams. She left college after her sophomore year and turned pro in 1977. That year she finished second again in the U.S. Women's Open.^[1]

Professional career

In 1978, her first full season on the LPGA Tour, Lopez won nine tournaments, including at one stretch, five tournaments in a row. She appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, won the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average, LPGA Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year and was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. She won another eight times in 1979. She won multiple times in each year from 1980 to 1984, although she played only half-seasons in 1983 and 1984 due to the birth of her first child.^[1]

Playing full time again in 1985, Lopez posted five wins, five seconds and five thirds, won the money title, the scoring title and the Player of the Year Award. She was also named Associate Press Female Athlete of the Year for a second time. She played only four tournaments in 1986, when her second daughter was born. But came back to win multiple times in 1987-89 - three times each in 1988 and 1989 - and once again won Player of the Year honors in 1988. Her schedule was curtailed again in the early 1990s when her third daughter was born. In 1992 she won twice. She continued to play short schedules - from 11 to 18 tournaments - through 2002, then in 2003 cut back to just a half dozen or fewer events a year.^[1]

Although considered one of the greats in the history of women's golf, and the best player from the late '70s to late '80s, Lopez did not win many majors and never won the U.S. Women's Open. She finished second at the U.S. Women's Open four times, the last coming in 1997 when she became the first golfer to score in the 60s for all four rounds, yet she still lost to Alison Nicholas. Her three major championships all came at the LPGA Championship, in 1978, 1985, and 1989.^[1]

Lopez was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1987. She was a member of the United States Solheim Cup team in 1990 and was captain of the team in 2005. She retired from regular tournament play in 2002, and then attempted a return in 2007 and 2008. In her return season, she played six tournaments, failed to make the cut in any of the tournaments and only broke 80 in three of the 12 rounds.^[1] In 2008 she played in three events, with a low score of 76, never making the cut.

Lopez is the only woman to win LPGA Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year, and the Vare Trophy in the same season (1978). Her company, Nancy Lopez Golf, makes a full line of women's clubs and accessories. She also does occasional television commentary. Her husband, Ray Knight, is a former All-Star baseball player.^[1]

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

• 1969 New Mexico Women's Amateur
• 1970 New Mexico Women's Amateur
• 1971 New Mexico Women's Amateur
• 1972 U.S. Girl's Junior, Wonen's Western Junior
• 1973 Wonen's Western Junior
• 1974 U.S. Girl's Junior, Wonen's Western Junior
• 1975 Mexican Amateur
• 1976 AIAW National Championship, Women's Western Amateur, Women's Trans National Amateur

LPGA Tour wins (48)

• 1978 (9) Bent Tree Classic, Sunstar Classic, Greater Baltimore Classic, Coca-Cola Classic, Golden Lights Championship, LPGA Championship, Bankers Trust Classic, Colgate European Open, Colgate Far East Open
• 1979 (8) Sunstar Classic, Sahara National Pro-Am, Women's International, Coca-Cola Classic, Golden Lights Championship, Lady Keystone Open, Colgate European Open, Mary Kay Classic
• 1980 (3) Women's Kemper Open, The Sarah Coventry, Rail Charity Golf Classic
• 1981 (3) Arizona Copper Classic, Colgate Dinah Shore, The Sarah Coventry
• 1982 (2) J&B Scotch Pro-Am, Mazda Japan Classic
• 1983 (2) Elizabeth Arden Classic, J&B Scotch Pro-Am
• 1984 (2) Uniden LPGA Invitational, Chevrolet World Championship of Women's Golf
• 1985 (5) Chrysler-Plymouth Classic, LPGA Championship, Mazda Hall of Fame Championship, Henredon Classic, Portland PING Championship
• 1987 (2) Sarasota Classic, PING Cellular One LPGA Golf Championship
• 1988 (3) Mazda Classic, Ai Star/Centinela Hospital Classic, Chrysler-Plymouth Classic
• 1989 (3) LPGA Championship, Atlantic City Classic, Nippon Travel-MBS Classic
• 1990 (1) MBS LPGA Classic
• 1991 (1) Sara Lee Classic
• 1992 (2) Rail Charity Golf Classic, PING Cellular One LPGA Golf Championship
• 1993 (1) Youngstown-Warren LPGA Classic
• 1997 (1) Chick-fil-A Charity Championship

LPGA Majors are shown in bold.

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

Other wins

• 1980 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Curtis Strange)
• 1987 Mazda Champions (with Miller Barber)

Major championships

Wins (3)

Results in LPGA majors

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.
LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play.
CUT = missed the half=way cut.
"T" = tied
WD = withdrew
Green background for a win. Yellow background for a top-10 finish.

See also

• Golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most LPGA major championship wins

References

• Katherine M. Jamieson. “Reading Nancy Lopez: Decoding Representations of Race, Class, and Sexuality”
• Baca Zinn, Maxine and Bonnie Thornton Dill. “Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism.” Feminist Theory Reader. Carole R. McCann & Seung-Kyung Kim, eds. New York, NY: Routledge Press, 2003.

External links

• Official website
• Profile on the LPGA Tour's official site
• Nancy Lopez (biography in the New Georgia Encyclopedia)
• Nancy Lopez bio
• Nancy Lopez on Latino sports legends