Kathy Cornelius (née McKinnon, born October 27, 1932) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, Cornelius attended

Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

, where she played on the men's golf team, as the school did not have a women's team at the time. She turned pro in 1953 and married golf pro Bill Cornelius the same year. She joined the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of wee ...

in 1956 and won two events in her rookie season, including the U.S. Women's Open, which was to be her only major championship. She won six LPGA Tour titles in total and had her highest money list finish in 1973, when she came eighth. She made the top-20 of the money list twelve times in total (1957–65 and 1971–73). In 1985, Kathy and her husband founded Magique Golf, a golf club company based in Arizona, which they ran until 1999. She later taught golf part-time at Rio Salado Golf Course in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as s ...

. Her daughter, Kay, won the 1981

U.S. Girls' Junior The United States Girls' Junior Championship is one of the thirteen U.S. national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association. It is open to amateur girls who are under 19 on the last day of the competition and have a USGA h ...

, making them the only mother-daughter pair to win

USGA The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

championships.

Professional wins (8)

LPGA Tour wins (6)

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

(2) St. Petersburg Open, U.S. Women's Open *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

(1) Cosmopolitan Open *

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

(1)

Tippecanoe Open The Tippecanoe Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1959 to 1961. It was played at the Tippecanoe Lake Country Club in Leesburg, Indiana. It was an unofficial event in 1959 and 1960. Winners ;Tippecanoe Open *1961 Kathy Cornelius ;Le ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

(1)

Bluegrass Invitational The Bluegrass Invitational was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1965 to 1974.LPGA Tournament C ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

(1) Sealy-Faberge Classic

Other wins (2)

*1956 Hot Springs 4-Ball Invitational (with

Beverly Hanson Beverly Hanson (December 5, 1924 – April 12, 2014) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Hanson was born in Fargo, North Dakota in 1924.Babe Zaharias Open The Babe Zaharias Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1953 to 1967.LPGA Tournament Chronol ...

(tie with

Betsy Rawls 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. Early life and education Ra ...

)

Major championships

Wins (1)

¹ In an 18-hole playoff, Cornelius 75, McIntire 82.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius, Kathy American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Golfers from Massachusetts Golfers from Arizona Sportspeople from Boston 1932 births Living people 21st-century American women