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      LIV Golf Series Reaches TV Deal With The CW

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      After its debut season was relegated to internet platforms, the circuit that includes Phil Mickelson and Cameron Smith will be on the CW network in 2023.LIV Golf, at last, has a television deal.The new circuit, bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and the catalyst for a year of turmoil in men’s professional golf, said Thursday that its 54-hole, no-cut tournaments would air on the CW network and its app beginning next month.Although the arrangement is a milestone for LIV Golf, whose tournaments last year were relegated to internet streams even as it showcased stars like Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Cameron Smith, the deal also underscores the circuit’s short-term limitations and the challenges any alternative league faces in gaining entry into the American sports market.America’s top broadcasters were unlikely candidates for LIV Golf. CBS and NBC appeared unwilling to consider airing its events because of their close ties to the PGA Tour, and Disney-owned ABC was seen as a seemingly improbable landing spot because ESPN, which Disney also controls, streams many tour events. Another potential suitor, Fox, has stepped back from golf coverage in recent years.LIV Golf and CW officials did not immediately disclose the financial terms of the agreement, but a person familiar with the arrangement, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract’s details were confidential, said LIV had not purchased airtime from the network. Instead, the person said, the terms offered both sides mutual financial benefits.“Our new partnership between the CW and LIV Golf will deliver a whole new audience and add to the growing worldwide excitement for the league,” Dennis Miller, the network’s president, said in a statement. “With CW’s broadcasts and streams, more fans across the country and around the globe can partake in the LIV Golf energy and view its innovative competition that has reimagined the sport for players, fans and the game of golf.”The agreement is a reprieve for LIV, which has spent recent months staring down its skeptics who have criticized the new tour’s absence of a television deal, its limited attendance at tournaments and the PGA Tour’s retention of many of the world’s top players. LIV Golf is hoping that its second season, which will begin with a tournament in Mexico in late February, will lead to fan and financial breakthroughs, especially as it more fully embraces a model that emphasizes franchises..css-1v2n82w{max-width:600px;width:calc(100% – 40px);margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:25px;height:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;font-family:nyt-franklin;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1v2n82w{margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;}}@media only screen and (min-width:1024px){.css-1v2n82w{width:600px;}}.css-161d8zr{width:40px;margin-bottom:18px;text-align:left;margin-left:0;color:var(–color-content-primary,#121212);border:1px solid var(–color-content-primary,#121212);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-161d8zr{width:30px;margin-bottom:15px;}}.css-tjtq43{line-height:25px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-tjtq43{line-height:24px;}}.css-x1k33h{font-family:nyt-cheltenham;font-size:19px;font-weight:700;line-height:25px;}.css-1hvpcve{font-size:17px;font-weight:300;line-height:25px;}.css-1hvpcve em{font-style:italic;}.css-1hvpcve strong{font-weight:bold;}.css-1hvpcve a{font-weight:500;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}.css-1c013uz{margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:22px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz{font-size:14px;margin-top:15px;margin-bottom:20px;}}.css-1c013uz a{color:var(–color-signal-editorial,#326891);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;font-weight:500;font-size:16px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz a{font-size:13px;}}.css-1c013uz a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? What’s their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source.Learn more about our process.In December, when The New York Times disclosed a confidential McKinsey & Company analysis from 2021 that suggested that a Saudi-backed, franchise-filled golf league would face a tricky path to profitability and relevancy, a spokesman for the circuit said LIV was “confident that over the next few seasons, the remaining pieces of our business model will come to fruition as planned.”The McKinsey analysis considered a television deal a vital ingredient for a league’s success and suggested that the concept that became LIV could earn as much as $410 million from broadcast rights in 2028, if it settled into what it called a “coexistence” with the PGA Tour. But if the league remained mired in “start-up” status, the consultants wrote, it could expect no more than $90 million a year for its broadcast rights in 2028.In its antitrust case against the PGA Tour, which is not scheduled to go to trial before next January, LIV Golf has used its struggles to secure a television deal as evidence of what it sees as the long-dominant tour’s monopolistic behavior.The tour, which has television deals that will pay it billions of dollars in the coming years, has denied wrongdoing. But in a filing in August, LIV Golf’s lawyers asserted that the tour had “compromised” the new league’s prospects to reach a rights agreement and said that the tour had “threatened sponsors and broadcasters that they must sever their relationships with players who join LIV Golf, or be cut off from having any opportunities with the PGA Tour.”LIV also said that CBS officials had said “they cannot touch LIV Golf even for consideration” because of the network’s ties to the PGA Tour. (Paramount Global, which controls CBS, holds a minority stake in the CW. The tour also has a contract with Warner Bros. Discovery, another minority stakeholder in the CW.)LIV’s pursuit of a television deal proved more turbulent — or at least more public — than the last time its chief executive, Greg Norman, tried to build a rival to the PGA Tour. In 1994, when Norman rolled out plans for a new tour, he had buy-in from Fox, which had extended a 10-year commitment. The uprising ended quickly anyway.Despite the headwinds this time, Norman had projected confidence for months that LIV would secure some kind of contract. In November, he called a television deal “a priority” and predicted that one would be locked down “very, very soon.” More

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      Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Players to Watch

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      The defending champion, Thomas Pieters, is among those who could win the tournament.A new year on the DP World Tour brings new hope for players who have been around long enough to know how fickle and unforgiving the game can be from week to week — shot to shot — even for the best in the world.The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which begins on Thursday at Yas Links in the United Arab Emirates, should be no different. Some in the field will be in midseason form, while others will struggle, searching for answers before another season slips away.Here are five players to watch.Sepp StrakaStraka, 29, recorded his first PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic last February and finished second at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October. Yet he also missed six cuts in a row in the middle of last season and missed three straight in November.His triumph at the Honda, in which he rallied from a five-stroke deficit with a four-under 66 in the final round, was the first on tour for an Austrian-born player. He had entered the week ranked No. 176 in the world.Straka, who lived in Austria before moving to the state of Georgia when he was 14, will have something to play for besides himself this year. He has a chance to be a member of Team Europe for the Ryder Cup matches in Rome.He opened the year by finishing tied for 21st at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.Henrik Stenson of Sweden last year at the P.G.A. Championship. He won his first LIV tournament, earning $4 million.Orlando Ramirez/USA Today Sports, via ReutersHenrik StensonStenson, who had been appointed Europe’s Ryder Cup captain in March, was removed in July after he joined the LIV Tour. Luke Donald was named as his replacement.This will be Stenson’s first appearance on the DP World Tour since the dismissal. He and the others who bolted for LIV have been allowed to participate in DP World Tour events pending the resolution of a court case.Stenson, from Sweden, won his LIV debut at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey by two strokes over Dustin Johnson and Matthew Wolff. He earned $4 million for the victory in July.Tommy Fleetwood of England last year at the Zozo Championship in Japan.Atsushi Tomura/Getty ImagesTommy FleetwoodOne of Europe’s top players in recent years, Fleetwood has not won a tournament on the PGA Tour. Yet he fared well last year in the major championships, signaling he might notch that first victory before too long.Fleetwood, from England, missed the cut at the U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass., but tied for 14th at the Masters in Augusta, Ga., tied for fifth at the P.G.A. Championship in Tulsa, Okla., and tied for fourth at the British Open in St. Andrews, Scotland. Fleetwood, who turns 32 on Thursday, was one of eight players to compile at least two top-5 finishes in the majors.Thomas Pieters of Belgium at last year’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which he won. It was his sixth tournament victory since 2015.Ryan Lim/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThomas PietersPieters, 30, from Belgium, was the winner in Abu Dhabi last year — or, more precisely, the survivor.During Friday’s second round the winds kicked up to 40 miles per hour. Rory McIlroy summed up how many players were no doubt feeling: “I’ve never been so glad to get off a golf course.”Yet Pieters managed a two-over 74 that day to stay within striking distance of the lead. He finished a stroke ahead of Rafa Cabrera Bello and Shubhankar Sharma. Pieters, who has been ranked in the top 50 in the world, has also endured his share of difficulties.After winning three tournaments in Europe in 2015 and 2016, he went three years before he collected his fourth victory and then another two years before he picked up his fifth, which came in the 2021 Portugal Masters.No wonder the triumph on Yas Links in 2022, his sixth, was so gratifying.“I disappeared for a couple of years, I guess,” Pieters said after winning the tournament. “I’m so happy to be back.”Seamus Power of Ireland last year at Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course in Georgia. He attended East Tennessee State University, where he won five tournaments.Cliff Hawkins/Getty ImagesSeamus PowerIn October, thanks to three straight rounds of 65, Power captured the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. A week later, he tied for third in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Mexico. Then came a tie for fifth at the RSM Classic in Georgia. Of the 12 rounds in those three events, he broke 70 on 11 occasions. The other round was a one-under 70.Power, 35, from Ireland, attended East Tennessee State University where he won five tournaments including the Atlanta Sun Conference Championship twice.The next step for him is to be a real factor in the major championships. Power tied for ninth in last year’s P.G.A. Championship and tied for 12th at the U.S. Open. More

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      Change Proved Difficult for Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

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      Last year’s tournament was the first at a new course, Yas Links, and it proved to be a challenge, especially when the golfers played in high winds.For professional golfers it’s not familiarity that breeds contempt, it’s change. Thomas Pieters, the defending champion of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, said he was surprised by his win last year at Yas Links in the United Arab Emirates, which will host the tournament for the second straight year.“Although I won, at the beginning of the week, it wasn’t really a course I fancied or that stood out to my eye,” he said. Pieters, from Belgium, added that the previous venue, Abu Dhabi Golf Club, was a “beast of a golf course,” and that it took a “a proper ball striker to win there,” implying the opposite is true of the new venue for the championship, which begins on Thursday.The transition to Yas Links was compounded last year by strong winds during the second round of the tournament, with gusts up to 40 miles per hour, which wreaked havoc on golfers and their scores. After he finished tied for sixth last year, the defending champion, Tyrrell Hatton, told reporters on site, “I would love for a bomb to drop on it and blow it to oblivion, to be honest.”Much of Hatton’s fury was aimed at the course’s 646-yard par-5 18th hole. The long par 5 utilized the back tee box in the adverse conditions, leaving golfers no way to reach the green in two shots. “I hit a really good tee shot and still had 290 [yards to the] front,” Hatton said after the tournament. “It would be a much better finishing hole if you’re actually rewarded for hitting the fairway, which as it stands, you’re not.”Shane Lowry on the 18th hole of Yas Links during last year’s tournament. The par-5 hole proved to be a challenge for players in the windy conditions.Ryan Lim/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesPieters said what made the course difficult was that it didn’t exactly play like a true links course, where firm conditions allow for players to use the ground to run the ball up onto playing surfaces.The modern professional game rewards aerial mastery, high soaring shots that land to precise yardages — a style of play that doesn’t exactly fit the design of Yas Links. Yet neither does playing it as a traditional links course, Pieters said. “It’s like playing funky links golf. You can’t really run it up on most of the greens — you have to fly it on, which makes it extra tricky.”Miguel Vidaor, the DP World Tour tournament director, said the goal for the course was to be “tough but fair.” Last year, he said, because of the wind conditions, the tournament organizers adjusted their original plans to make the course play firmer and faster.“We were on the limit all day long,” Vidaor said. “We backed off green speeds from high elevens [on the stimpmeter, a device that measures green speeds] and dropped the speed down to the mid tens. It’s an exposed golf course, and we need to be careful because there’s no shelter at all.” Vidaor and his team slowed the speeds by cutting the greens less often than usual, and watering them to allow the grass to grow overnight. Typically, tournament golf is played at a minimum speed of 11 to test players. The reduction of the speeds at Yas Links last year was a reflection of how severely the wind was blowing, which could cause balls to drift from their paths once putted.Barring conditions like the ones last year, Vidaor said he didn’t expect to change much in this year’s setup. Citing Hatton’s criticism last year, he said, “Eighteen is most unusual, but I think it’s a great par 5. It’s a three-shotter, which in the world of tournament golf, you don’t get very often these days.” He added that the course’s designer, Kyle Phillips, intended for it to play this way. Vidaor, who is a fan of Phillips’s work, said “I love a par 5 where par is a good score. Nothing wrong with that.”One of the real differences at Yas Links compared with most DP World Tour courses is its strain of grass, paspalum. Often used on seaside courses or in hot climates, it’s a drought-resistant turf that can thrive in adverse conditions, such as when sea mist falls on it. Bermuda grass, which is also often used in hot climates, can often get “grainy,” Vidaor noted, which affects shots on and around the greens, as that grain can have a grabbing effect on the ball. Paspalum, by contrast, lacks that.Also unique to Yas Links is that paspalum is the only turf grass on the property, which is slightly unusual in today’s modern agronomy at golf courses. Most courses have one type of fairway grass to account for the wear and tear of golf carts, while the greens will feature another type of grass to account for the best pure roll, as well as for the climatic conditions. The uniform quality of the course makes for a beautiful presentation, but also a uniform playing surface. “The consistency throughout the course was stunning,” Pieters said.Vidaor said that also came from controlling the mowing heights, where the grass on the greens was cut to 1.6 millimeters and the grass on the tees was cut to 3.5 millimeters. Fairways were at 6.5 millimeters. All this means that even in the desert in winter, the balls are going to move very fast and the course will have an immaculate appearance.Thomas Pieters, above, with his caddie, won last year’s tournament. Pieters said that he will enter this week’s competition with “lots of good memories from last year.”Kamran Jebreili/Associated PressPieters said that the undulations on the greens could be difficult for players to handle, and with greens running in the mid 11s, the slopes could also prove for difficult putting rounds. And even though it’s the second year for the tournament at Yas Links, Pieters added there still wasn’t the same comfort level as players had at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.“I mean, it caught everybody off guard,” he said. “We were so used to starting on the same course. We’d done our homework in past years and all of a sudden, we were given a completely different golf course.”Despite the criticism and tough conditions last year, Vidaor and the course manager, Corey Finn, will try to make the course harder. “Overall, our goal is to have firm greens as this presents a tougher challenge for the players,” Finn wrote in an email. “This year, having 12 months to prepare, we have performed more work on the greens over summer to try and achieve firmer surfaces.”Despite loving Yas Links a “little less” than the old course, Pieters said he will enter the week with “lots of good memories from last year” and feels good about his preparation, coming off a competitive layoff. “I’ve put in the work over the winter. I’m really fresh and my second daughter was born a couple months ago. So, I’m buzzed to go,” he added.Vidaor said his hopes were simple for the second year at Yas Links. “I’m really hoping that the more the guys play the course, the more they will like it,” he said. “Change is difficult for everybody. Nobody likes change.“After 16 years in the same place, it was, like, ‘Whoa, what’s this?’ But I think the more they play, I think the more they will enjoy it. And, you know, it’s a challenge. We have the best players in the world, and we want it tough.” More

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      Tony Jacklin Reflects on His Career and on LIV Golf

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      He was on top of the world in 1970 after winning the British and U.S. Opens. And while he lived well, he said making money was never his top goal.The members of the DP World Tour, whose next event kicks off on Thursday at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Yas Links in the United Arab Emirates, owe a great deal to the European players who helped make the tour what it is today.That includes Tony Jacklin, the winner of the 1969 British Open, the 1970 United States Open and eight tournaments on the European Tour, now the DP World Tour.Jacklin, from England, also played a huge role in the Ryder Cup. A four-time captain from 1983 to 1989, he led Team Europe to two victories, including the first over the Americans since 1957.Jacklin, 78, reflected recently on his career, on the controversy over the Saudi-financed LIV Golf tour that guarantees entrants six-figure payouts and the game that has meant so much to him.The following conversation has been edited and condensed.When you won your two majors, what did that fame feel like?A Guide to the LIV Golf SeriesCard 1 of 6A new series. More

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      ‘S***ting myself’ – Chelsea legend John Terry’s terrifyingly close encounter with an alligator leaves Grealish panicking

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      JOHN TERRY has revealed how he came face to face with an alligator while playing golf in Florida. The former England and Chelsea defender was playing a round at the famous Sawgrass course near Jacksonville when he spotted the man-eater on the fairway close to some water. 
      Terry is a massive golf fan and now plays off scratchCredit: Instagram
      The Chelsea legend played a round at the famous Sawgrass course near JacksonvilleCredit: Instagram
      Terry celebrating after putting the ballCredit: Instagram
      JT filmed the 5ft-long alligator as he tentatively walked past it in footage posted to InstagramCredit: Instagram
      JT, 42, filmed the 5ft-long alligator as he tentatively walked past it and posted the footage on Instagram. 
      Jack Grealish, who played at Aston Villa while Terry was a coach there, responded: “Naaaa wouldn’t catch me anywhere near that!!!!”
      Other pals suggested JT was sizing up the reptile to turn it into a handbag for his wife Toni. 
      Last year Terry announced he had got his golf handicap down to scratch, meaning he can go around 18 holes in level par and not require the extra shots that a handicap provides. 
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      The five-time Premier League winner wrote: “When I retired I set myself a target to get down to scratch and today I achieved it.
      “Not the most exciting post but one I’m personally pleased with.” 
      Terry is a member at the exclusive Wentworth club in Surrey and has also attended the Ryder Cup and been pictured with professional stars Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter. 
      He plays left-handed despite being a right-footed footballer.  
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      Terry’s last top level coaching role came at Aston Villa.
      The ex-defender has hinted that he’d like to get into management – but only at the right club.
      He has since been back at Chelsea working with academy stars.
      Grealish commented on Terry’s post saying he wouldn’t go near the alligatorCredit: Reuters More

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      Gareth Bale considering becoming pro golfer after retiring as he is offered spot on Legends Tour

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      EUROPE’S top celebrity golf circuit would welcome Gareth Bale “with open arms” – allowing him to compete against fellow sporting legends such as Gianfranco Zola, Robbie Fowler, Andrew Straus and Damon Hill.And Bale will also be offered the chance to play alongside big name golfers – including Ryder Cup captains Colin Montgomerie, Paul McGinley, Ian Woosnam and Thomas Bjorn – to see if he has got what it takes to become a pro himself.
      Gareth Bale is a big fan of golfCredit: PA
      Bale shows off his technique to his team-mates in Wales trainingCredit: Alamy Live News
      And following his retirement from football he is considering taking it up as more than a hobbyCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
      Bale often used golf as an escape from the pressures of footballCredit: Instagram @garethbale11
      The former Wales captain is believed to be toying with the idea of trying his luck as a full time golfer, following his retirement from football at the age of just 33.
      He is being targeted by the organisers of the Legends Tour – the European Tour’s over-50s circuit – who also run a highly popular Celebrity Series alongside their main tournaments.
      The Celebrity Series is made up of four events, with the top ten players qualifying for the final – played in either Mauritius or the Seychelles – and competing for a share of £100,000 to donate to the charity of their choice.
      It was launched two years ago, with former Westlife singer Keith Duffy edging out Fowler by one shot.
      READ MORE ON GARETH BALE
      But former Celtic and Ireland goalkeeper Packie Bonner struck back for the football contingent in 2022, by edging out Formula One star Hill.
      Other footballers who have competed include Zola, Roberto Di Matteo, Gordon Strachan, Teddy Sheringham, and Lee Sharpe, so Bale would be in good company if he signs up.
      Keith Mitchell, the Legends Tour’s chief marketing officer, commented: “Everyone is aware of Gareth’s incredible passion for golf, and if he wanted to be involved in the Celebrity Series we would welcome him with open arms.
      “He has hosted the Wales Open for the past two years so he is well known to us, and obviously there has been a fair amount of speculation that he is keen to see how far he could go in the game.
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      “This could prove a great starting point. As well as regular competition against other sports and showbusiness personalities he could also get involved in our Alliance Series events, where amateurs play three rounds with our professionals.
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      “We have seen footballers like Julian Dicks and Andriy Shevchenko attempt to forge new careers in golf, only to discover just how difficult it is.
      “I know he has played in various pro-ams, but playing alongside golfers like Thomas Bjorn and Paul McGinley in tournament conditions could be a real eye-opener for Gareth, if he is thinking along the same lines.
      “We have a list of about 50-60 celebrities that we send invitations to, and we will certainly be making enquiries to see if Gareth is interested in taking part this year.”
      The dates for the 2023 Celebrity Series will be announced later this month, with the first event expected to take place in Jersey in June. More

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      Fans all say the same thing about Gareth Bale’s next career move after he retires from football aged 33

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      FANS are sure they know what’s next for golf-loving Gareth Bale after he announced he has retired from football.Bale took to socila media today to reveal he has hung up his boots.
      Fans have all been guessing how long it takes for Gareth Bale to turn professional at golfCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      The Wales national team joked about Bale’s love of golf with a flag suggesting it was more important than Real MadridCredit: Sky Sports
      The five-time Champions League winner is a long-time fan of golf, and fans have all been making the same joke.
      One wrote: “Odds on Gareth bale winning a LIV golf tournament in the next five years?”
      A second commented: “Waiting for LIV Golf to pay some crazy money to Gareth Bale to play a few rounds of golf.”
      A third said: “I give it six weeks before Gareth Bale’s announced to be playing in that dodgy Saudi golf league.”
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      A fourth added: “Fair play to Gareth Bale he had a very good career now time for him to play a lot more golf.”
      A fifth joked: “Gareth Bale will probably win a professional golf tournament before Tottenham Hotspur win a trophy.”
      The Welshman is a massive golf fan, having a mini course built in his back garden featuring iconic holes from the world’s greatest courses.
      And former Madrid team-mate Thibaut Courtois ven coined him “The Golfer”.
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      Bale also built an indoor golf course in Cardiff. It is called Par 59 and has three nine-hole courses, a bar and a restaurant.
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      The 33-year-old even opened a second venue in Bristol at the end of last year.
      He has also been backed by Betfair to turn his attention to turning professional in the sport, with odds set at 5/2.
      Bale had also given his thumbs-up to the ‘Wales, Golf, Madrid’ song that was invented by fans.
      The song was a dig at Bale’s critics in Spain, who claim the forward is more interested in Wales and pacing the fairways than playing for the La Liga giants.
      After Wales qualified for the 2020 Euros, the Wales team also brought out a flag which paid tribute to the song.
      It had often been claimed that during the end of his time at Real Madrid that when he was not playing football he was instead at the gold course.
      He did defend himself by saying that was not the case.
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      Bale said: “I’ve been available for quite a lot of the games in Spain. Sometimes you just don’t get picked so people assume that you’re injured.
      “There is a perception I play a lot of golf which I don’t, or people think I’m injured a lot when I’m actually not.” More

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      Kathy Whitworth, Record-Holder for U.S. Golf Wins, Dies at 83

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      Whitworth was a hall of famer who became the first woman’s pro golfer to earn more than $1 million.Kathy Whitworth, who joined the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour in the late 1950s when it was a blip on the national sports scene and who went on to win 88 tournaments, a record for both women and men on the United States tours, died on Saturday. She was 83.Whitworth was at a neighborhood Christmas party in Flower Mound, Texas, where she lived, when she collapsed and died soon after, Christina Lance, an LPGA spokeswoman, said.Whitworth, who turned pro at 19, was the LPGA Tour’s leading money winner eight times and became the first women’s pro to win more than $1 million in prize money when she finished third in the 1981 Women’s Open, the only major tournament she didn’t win. She earned more than $1.7 million lifetime in an era when purses were modest.“I would have swapped being the first to make a million for winning the Open, but it was a consolation which took some of the sting out of not winning,” she said in a profile for the World Golf Hall of Fame.Tiger Woods, with 82 victories on the PGA Tour, is the only active golfer anywhere near Whitworth’s total. Sam Snead, who died in 2002, is also credited with 82 PGA victories, and Mickey Wright won 82 times on the LPGA Tour.Known especially for her outstanding putting and bunker game and a fine fade shot that kept her in the fairways, Whitworth was a seven-time LPGA Player of the Year and won the Vare Trophy for lowest stroke average in a season seven times.The Associated Press named Whitworth the Female Athlete of the Year in 1965 and 1966 and she was inducted into the LPGA Tour and World Golf halls of fame.She won six tournaments considered majors during her career, capturing the Women’s PGA Championship three times, the Titleholders Championship twice and the Western Open once.“She just had to win,” her contemporary and fellow Hall of Famer Betsy Rawls told Golf Digest in 2009. “She hated herself when she made a mistake. She was wonderful to play with — sweet as she could be, nice to everybody — but oh, man, she berated herself something awful. And that’s what drove her.”Whitworth after winning the Women’s Titleholder Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga., in 1966.Associated PressKathrynne Ann Whitworth was born on Sept. 27, 1939, in the West Texas town of Monahans, but grew up in the southern New Mexico community of Jal (named for a local rancher, John A. Lynch). Jal was the headquarters of the El Paso Natural Gas Company, which drove the regional economy; Whitworth’s parents, Morris and Dama Whitworth, owned a hardware store for many years.Whitworth, the youngest of three sisters, enjoyed tennis as a youngster, then began playing golf at 15 under the tutelage of Hardy Loudermilk, the pro at a nine-hole course in Jal.“That was more than 10 years before open tennis tournaments were allowed,” she told The New York Times in 1981. “Golf was then the only pro sport for women so I decided to stick with golf.”Loudermilk viewed her as possessing exceptional potential and referred her to Harvey Penick, the head pro at the Austin Country Club, who became one of golf’s most prominent teachers, best known for his 1992 instructional, “Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book” (1992), written with Bud Shrake.“Early on, Harvey told me in a kind but firm way, ‘I think I can help you, but you have to do what I say,’” Whitworth recalled in “Kathy Whitworth’s Little Book of Golf Wisdom” (2007), written with Jay Golden. “I just said, ‘Yes sir.’ “If he told me I had to stand on my head, I would have stood on my head.”Penick stressed the need to adopt a grip that assured a square club face, something Whitworth never forgot. “Every time I got into a slump or started hitting the ball poorly, I had Harvey Penick to go to,” she wrote.Whitworth captured the New Mexico State Amateur title twice, briefly attended Odessa College in Texas and turned pro in December 1958.The LPGA was struggling at the time despite featuring brilliant golfers like Wright, Rawls and Louise Suggs. Galleries were relatively sparse and touring players sought out low-budget hotels and traveled by auto.Whitworth didn’t win a tournament until her fourth year on the tour, when she captured the Kelly Girl Open. She cited her second victory, later in 1962, at the Phoenix Thunderbird Open as giving her the confidence to withstand pressure.Whitworth was approaching the final hole at that event, dueling for the title with Wright, who was playing behind her. She didn’t know Wright’s score at the time since there was no leader board, but, “I made a decision to go at the hole,” she told Golf Digest, although “the pin was stuck behind a trap.”“I whipped it in there about 15 feet and made the birdie,” she recalled.She won by four strokes and established herself as a force on the tour with eight victories in 1963.Whitworth recorded her 88th LPGA victory in May 1985 at the United Virginia Bank tournament. She competed on the women’s senior circuit, the Legends Tour, then retired from competitive golf in 2005.In her later years, Whitworth lived in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound, gave golf lessons, conducted clinics and organized a junior women’s tournament in Fort Worth. A wooden case at her home course, Trophy Club Country Club in Roanoke, Texas, houses numerous trophies and 88 nickel-plated plaques engraved with details of her victories.Whitworth is survived by her longtime partner, Bettye Odle.Whitworth was a sturdy 5 feet 9 inches but didn’t deliver awesome drives and wasn’t viewed as a charismatic figure.“Some people are never meant for stardom, even if they are the star type,” the Hall of Famer Judy Rankin told Sports Illustrated in 1983, reflecting on Whitworth’s unflashy persona.“It’s not necessary for people to know you,” Whitworth told the magazine. “The record itself speaks. That’s all that really matters.”Alex Traub More