Monday, June 12, 2006

Who's the greatest woman golfer ever?

When discussing the greatest female golfer ever, it seems as if Annika Sorenstam has created a title-wave of support for the title. Using the same system I used to rank the greatest male golfers, I've only got Annika at No. 2. And my ranking is incomplete. I've been unable to find top 10 results for women's majors before 1963 so great players of the 30s, 40s and 50s such as Patty Berg and Mickey Wright are undervalued. They received points for the majors they won but no points for the numerous seconds, thirds, etc.

Also, Annika hasn't clearly established herself as the greatest player of this generation as you'll see by the list below.

In my system, you receive 20 points for winning a major and a bonus point for every stroke ahead. You add up the best year, best three years, best five years, best 10 and career, add that again to the career total and divide by two. This weights the ranking in favor of the dominant golfer rather than the one who gathered points over a long career.

Here are the 54 (18 holes of threesomes) greatest female golfers.

Rank, player, years, points
1. Mickey Wright, 1958-1973, 575.40
2. Annika Sorenstam, 1995-2006, 523.37
3. Karrie Webb 1996-2006, 469.50
4. Pat Bradley, 1977-1996, 460.93
5. Kathy Whitworth, 1963-1984, 453.10
6. Julie Inkster, 1984-2005, 449.30
7. Patty Berg, 1937-1965, 441.50
8. Patty Sheehan, 1981-1997, 400.62
9. Louise Suggs, 1946-1969, 377.64
10. Amy Alcott, 1976-1994, 358.22
11. Sandra Haynie, 1963-1983, 353.00
12. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, 1940-1954, 350.00
13. Betsy Rawls, 1951-1969, 329.09
14. JoAnne Carner, 1970-1992, 321.85
15. Meg Mallon, 1990-2004, 321.63
16. Laura Davies, 1987-2005, 303.42
17. Nancy Lopez, 1975-1997, 298.88
18. Donna Caponi, 1969-1982, 266.85
19. Beth Daniel, 1980-2005, 264.05
20. Se Ri Pak, 1998-2003, 244.95
21. Susan Maxwell Berning, 1965-1979, 242.50
22. Mary Mills, 1963-1974, 232.45
23. Clifford-Ann Creed, 1963-1976, 230.20
24. Carol Mann, 1963-1975, 226.50
25. Dottie Pepper, 1988-2001, 221.25
26. Sandra Palmer, 1967-1986, 220.00
27. Jan Stephenson, 1976-2000, 216.25
28. Marilyn Smith, 1963-1972, 211.45
29. Hollis Stacy, 1976-1996, 207.51
30. Sally Little, 1975-1988, 205.47
31. Ayako Okamoto, 1983-1993, 204.93
32. Rosie Jones, 1983-2005, 200.53
33. Liselotte Neumann, 1988-2005, 198.45
34. Jane Geddes, 1985-1996, 178.30
35. Tammie Green, 1989-1998, 173.10
36. Kelly Robbins, 1994-2004, 158.80
37. Brandie Burton, 1991-2001, 151.00
38. Grace Park, 1999-2005, 136.60
39. Jane Blalock, 1971-1980, 132.00
40. Judy Rankin, 1964-1979, 130.58
41. Judy Kimball-Simon, 1962-1967, 130.38
42. Beverly Hanson, 1955-1958, 130.00
43. Betty Jameson, 1942-1954, 130.00
44. Shirley Englehorn, 1963-1970, 124.25
45. Chris Johnson, 1983-2000, 122.50
46. Marlene Hagge, 1956-1972, 122.00
47. Nancy Scranton, 1986-2000, 120.50
48. Donna Andrews, 1992-1998, 116.93
49. Helen Alfreddson, 1992-2006, 116.83
50. Colleen Walker, 1987-1997, 116.80
51. Ruth Jessen, 1963-1974, 113.25
52. Sheri Turner, 1986-1999, 111.97
53. Alice Miller, 1976-1985, 109.75
54. Jody Anschutz, 1986-1991, 109.50

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