SPOTLIGHT ON MEMBERSHIP

Betsy King And Pia Nilsson To Be Honored At 2023 Cognizant Founders Cup

In the tradition of honoring the past, present and future of women’s golf, the LPGA Foundation once again celebrated the pioneers of the game at the Cognizant Founders Cup, May 11-14 at Upper Montclair Country Club.

The event honors the 13 Founders of the LPGA and the Pioneers who followed them to build the world’s oldest and most successful women’s professional sports league. The tournament supports the LPGA*USGA Girls Golf program, which has introduced more than one million girls to the game of golf.

LPGA Pioneers are women who venture into unclaimed territory. They are women who open new areas of thought and development in the game. These women exemplify the pioneering spirit always blazing a trail and leading others to follow. These women are instrumental in actively participating to advance and grow the LPGA.

This year, the 2023 Pioneers being honored are World Golf and LPGA Hall of Fame member Betsy King, and noted author, instructor and member of the National Golf Coaches Hall of Fame, Pia Nilsson (who currently is on our wait list to join PPCC).

King joined the LPGA Tour in 1977 and toiled for seven winless seasons before becoming one of the most prolific winners in LPGA Tour history. Her first victory was the 1984 Women’s Kemper Open, the first of three titles that year. She also had 21 top-10 finishes in 1984, which earned her the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year award. From 1984 through 1989, King won a total of 20 LPGA events, more wins than any other golfer in the world, male or female, during that period.

After that first win, King captured at least one win a year for the next decade. In 1989 she had a career-high of six victories. She finished in the top 10 on the money list every year from 1985–1995, and again in 1997. Along the way, she was named Rolex LPGA Player of the Year three times, won two scoring titles and three money titles. King averaged winning a major a year from 1987 to 1992 and then added a sixth major in 1997. She won the U.S. Women’s Open twice, the Chevron Championship three times, and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship once. The last of her 34 LPGA Tour wins came in 2001. In 1995, she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. King played on United States Solheim Cup team five times (1990, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998) and captained the winning U.S. team in 2007.

A supporter of many charitable causes throughout her career, King was so moved by a trip to Rwanda, Zambia, and Tanzania that she formed a charity called Golf Fore Africa (GFA) in 2007. Working with World Vision, GFA has installed over 450 freshwater wells throughout Zambia, providing potable water and changing the lives of more than 300,000 people.

(Written by LPGA Communications)