Sally Little (born 12 October 1951) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

n-born

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 ...

. She became a member of 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 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 Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

. She became a United States citizen in August 1982.

Amateur career

She was the low individual at the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

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

in 1971 and was named

LPGA Rookie of the Year 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 week ...

. 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.Sand Trap shot wins for Little
/ref> Little's best season was 1982, when she finished third on the money list. She has won 15 times on the tour, including two major championships, the

1988 du Maurier Classic The 1988 du Maurier Classic was contested from June 30 to July 3 at Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It was the 16th edition of the du Maurier Classic, and the 10th edition as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. This event wa ...

and the

1980 LPGA Championship The 1980 LPGA Championship was the 26th LPGA Championship, played June 5–8 at Jack Nicklaus Golf Center at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, a suburb northeast of Cincinnati. Sally Little won the first of her two major titles, three strokes ahead ...

. She was awarded the 1989 Ben Hogan Award from the Golf Writers Association of America and was recognised during the LPGA's 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA's top-50 players and teachers.

Professional wins

LPGA Tour (15)

''Note: Little won the Nabisco Dinah Shore Invitational (now known as the

Kraft Nabisco Championship The Chevron Championship is a professional women's golf tournament. An event on the LPGA Tour, it is one of the tour's five major championships, and has traditionally been the first of the season since its elevation to major status in 1983. Fou ...

) before it became a major championship.'' LPGA Tour playoff record (4–2)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Team appearances

Amateur *

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fre ...

(representing South Africa):

Professional *

Handa Cup The Handa Cup is a series of senior women's golf matches between a United States team and a World Team drawn from players from the rest of the world. It was founded in 2006 and is an event on the LPGA Legends Tour. Since 2013 it has been officially ...

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Sally South African female golfers American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Sportspeople from Cape Town South African people of British descent 1951 births Living people 21st-century American women