Jan Stephenson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
|
|
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | December 22, 1951 Sydney, Australia |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Nationality |  Australia |
| Residence | Windemere, Florida, U.S. |
| College | Hales College |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 1973 |
| Tours | LPGA Tour (joined 1974) ALPG Tour (joined 1973) |
| Professional wins | 16 on LPGA Tour 3 on ALPG Tour |
| Career earnings | $3,053,997 |
| Best Results in Major Championships | |
| Kraft Nabisco | 2: 1985 |
| LPGA Championship | Won 1982 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won 1983 |
| du Maurier Classic | Won 1981 |
| Awards | |
| LPGA Rookie of the Year | 1974 |
Jan Lynne Stephenson (born December 22, 1951 in Sydney, Australia) is a professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974 and won three major championships and 16 LPGA Tour victories in all.
Contents |
[edit] Career
While a teenager, Stephenson won five consecutive New South Wales Schoolgirl Championships in Australia, beginning in 1964, and followed that up with three straight wins in the New South Wales Junior Championship. She turned pro in 1973 and won the Australian Open that year. Stephenson joined the LPGA Tour in 1974 and was named LPGA Rookie of the Year[1].
Her first LPGA victory was the 1976 Sarah Coventry Naples Classic. Her most productive period was the early 1980s, when she won all of her majors in consecutive years: 1981 du Maurier, the 1982 LPGA Championship and the 1983 U.S. Women's Open[2].
Stephenson was one of the first LPGA stars to openly embrace and champion a sex-sells approach to marketing. Stephenson became as famous for her sex appeal as her golf during the early to mid-80s, when she posed in a bathtub - covered up only by the golf balls filling the tub - and later in a pinup calendar. She urged the LPGA Tour to fully embrace her approach to marketing.[3].
On the golf course, Stephenson won three times each in 1981, 1983 and 1987, those wins in '87 being her final ones on the LPGA. Stephenson continued playing LPGA events throughout the '90s, but was hampered by an injury incurred during a mugging in Miami in 1990. Her left ring finger was broken in two places, an injury that still bothers her play in cold or wet weather[4].
Stephenson went on to win on the Women's Senior Golf Tour, a tour she helped found. In 2003, she became the first woman to play on the Champions Tour, missing the cut. Stephenson is among the few women in the course design business, and produced an exercise video for people with arthritis. Her many charitable efforts include being an honorary chairman of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society[5].
[edit] Controversy
She made a controversial remark in 2003 when she said "Asians are killing the (LPGA) Tour", referring to the large number of Korean-born players who were winning on tour, and calling for quotas on international players. She later apologised, saying that she "did not intend to make it a racial issue."[6]
[edit] Professional wins (19)
[edit] LPGA wins (16)
- 1976 (2) Sarah Coventry Naples Classic, Birmingham Classic
- 1978 (1) Women's International
- 1980 (1) Sun City Classic
- 1981 (3) Peter Jackson Classic, Mary Kay Classic, United Virginia Bank Classic
- 1982 (2) LPGA Championship, Lady Keystone Open
- 1983 (3) Tucson Conquistadores LPGA Open, Lady Keystone Open, U.S. Women's Open
- 1985 (1) GNA Classic
- 1987 (3) Santa Barbara Open, SAFECO Classic, Konica San Jose Classic
LPGA Majors are shown in bold.
[edit] ALPG wins (3)
- 1973 (2) Victorian Lady Tarax Open, Wills Australian Ladies Open
- 1977 (1) Wills Qantas Australian Ladies Open
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
|
|||||
|
|||||
