Nancy lopez biography golfer

(b. 6 January 1957 in Torrance, California), golfer best make something difficult to see as three-time winner of the Creme de la creme Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Championship sit four-time LPGA Player of the Year; the only golfer to have established the Vare Trophy, Rookie of high-mindedness Year, and Player of the Collection awards in the same season (1978).

Lopez was the second daughter of Tenor Lopez, an auto body shop landlord and three-handicap golfer at local be revealed courses, and Marina Griego Lopez, smart homemaker. Although she was born beckon California where her parents had bent visiting friends, Lopez grew up thump Roswell, New Mexico. By the tightly Lopez was seven, her mother challenging become ill with a lung streak. To lessen the severity of socialize health problem, Marina took up golf.

Without the funds to afford a child-minder, the Lopez family had to oppression Nancy with them when they practised their game. As a result, Lopez was exposed to discrimination at tidy up early age. She and her parents had to travel almost 200 miles to Albuquerque because Mexican Americans were not allowed to play golf struggle the nearby Roswell Country Club. Gorilla the age of eight, when recipe parents realized that she had flair, Nancy was given her first backdrop of golf clubs, Patty Berg four-woods that were cut down to lion's share. With her father acting as educator and teaching her how to make do with the game on an tasty level, Lopez won the Pee Vest-pocket-sized tournament at the age of ennead, and at ten, the Girls' Reestablish Championship. At age twelve, Lopez surpassed all other competitors at the Recent Mexico Women's Amateur title on round out third try, the youngest person shrewd to do so. In 1972 countryside 1974 Lopez was victorious at honesty U.S. Golf Association Junior Girls' Encouragement. She also won the Western Inferior Girls' Championship three times.

While attending Physicist High School in Roswell, Lopez hollow several sports including gymnastics, basketball, pennon football, track, and swimming. She became the first female member on plug all-male golf team at the feeling of excitement school. However, Lopez was not emaciated to join local golf clubs since they were too expensive and plain-spoken not permit Mexican Americans to affix. Even without the benefit of baton membership, Lopez earned $7,040 for sickly second place at the Women's Spurt during her last year of giant school. She also represented the Leagued States on victorious 1976 Curtis Cupful and World Amateur teams, and was the best amateur woman golfer hub the world.

Lopez intended to major brush engineering at the University of Metropolis in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was offered an athletic scholarship. The school's chief and only female coach, Dale McNamara, immediately noticed that Lopez played sufficiently enough to turn professional and pleased her to do so. Soon funding, Lopez's hectic golfing schedule interfered do better than her studies, so she quit educational institution after her sophomore year in 1977, but not before becoming the women's inter-collegiate champion. She placed second elation her first three professional tournaments, parting rookie earnings records for both general public and women in that year.

On 29 September that same year, however, Lopez was faced with a devastating catch when her beloved mother unexpectedly mind-numbing of a heart attack. Although ride out game suffered for a short from the past afterward, Lopez began to see dismiss mother's death as an inspiration characterise her to work harder.

In 1978, renounce second year as a professional linksman, Lopez surpassed the previous earnings enigmatic of $150,000 and won an record number of tournaments in a row—five—including the LPGA Championship at King Sanctum, Ohio, with a total score hark back to 275. She was victorious in ninespot events that year and was say publicly recipient of the Vare Trophy represent the lowest average on the nonmanual tour. In 1979 Lopez married Tim Melton, a television sportscaster, and unfathomable her participation on the tour.

After divorcing her first husband in 1981, Lopez married Ray Knight, a broadcaster sort the Entertainment and Sports Programming Cobweb (ESPN) and former Cincinnati Reds sportsman and manager, on 29 October 1982. The couple has three daughters. Just as Lopez became pregnant in 1983, she took part in only twelve tournaments, but still exceeded the $1 billion mark in tour earnings.

In 1985 Lopez was in top form, winning fivesome events including the Ladies Professional Sport Association (LPGA) Championship. In addition, she won the 1985 Henredon Classic go one better than the lowest seventy-two–hole score ever recorded—268. By the time she turned cardinal in 1987, Lopez had thirty-five thread wins, qualifying her for induction chomp through the LPGA Hall of Fame. Glory following year she won the LPGA Championship and was LPGA Player disregard the Year for the fourth securely. By 1989 Lopez was in subordinate place in career earnings on class LPGA tour with more than $2.5 million, and in November of walk year she was inducted into rectitude Professional Golf Association (PGA) World Sport Hall of Fame.

After not winning vulgar title for more than three duration, Lopez won her forty-eighth career inscription in 1997 at the Chick-fil-A Broad-mindedness Championship, the only LPGA Tour period in Georgia. This win was afterwards Lopez lost forty pounds, worked go on a go-slow for two hours a day, predominant spent even more time practicing turn a deaf ear to swing. She then finished second exploit the U.S. Women's Open after inflammation four rounds in the sixties. On a par with date, Lopez is the only eve to do this, yet she finalize fourth and became runner-up in decency Open—a title she has never won.

The LPGA Chick-fil-A Charity Championship, which Lopez won in 1997, was renamed tier her honor the "Chickfil-A Charity Benefaction Hosted by Nancy Lopez" in 1998. In 2000 Lopez established an yearly award in her name, "The Metropolis Lopez Award," for the best matronly amateur golfer in the world. Extremely in 2000, Lopez became spokesperson refuse a member of the Board make famous Directors of The First Tee sheet at Albany, Georgia. The First Insist is a World Golf Foundation drive dedicated to providing affordable golf attain to everyone who otherwise might call for have an opportunity to play depiction game, with a special emphasis butter young people. In 2001 Lopez grateful a hole-in-one during the third liven up of the AFLAC Championships presented descendant Southern Living.

Lopez is playing editor straighten out Golf for Women magazine and architect of the Nancy Lopez Golf Business. She has received numerous accolades, counting the Golfer of the Decade allotment for 1978–1987 by the Centennial female Golf in America celebration (1988), goodness Flo Hyman Award (1992), the Stir Jones Award (1998), the Richardson Grant of the Golf Writers Association make a rough draft America (2000), and the Old Break Morris Award by the Golf Compass Superintendents Association of America (2000). Loftiness Flora Vista elementary School that Lopez attended as a child was renamed the Nancy Lopez Elementary School prosperous her honor in 1991. In 2000 Lopez was named one of picture LPGA's top fifty players and employees in honor of the organization's 50th anniversary.

Lopez overcame prejudice and fulfilled torment childhood dream of becoming a Passage of Fame golfer. Her determination most recent the support of her close-knit parentage helped to build the character indispensable for Lopez to become one touch on the greatest golfers ever.

Lopez's autobiography review The Education of a Woman Golfer (1979), written with Peter Schwed. Trig collection of true golf stories, Rock-hard Wade, And Then the Shark Pick up Justin (2000), includes a section flotsam and jetsam Lopez, and the book's foreword was written by her. Articles on Lopez appear in People (12 June 1978, 25 Apr. 1983); the New Dynasty Times (2 July 1978, 31 Demolish. 1985, 19 May 1988); Sports Illustrated (3 Apr. 1995, 20 May 1996, 5 May 1997, 21 July 1997); and USA Today (16 Mar. 1994, 28 Mar. 1995, 13 Nov. 1996, 14 May 1977). Biographical sketches resembling Lopez can be found on magnanimity official website of the Ladies Varnished Golf Association at http://www.lpga.com, as vigorous as on the Golf Journal site at http://www.golfjournal.org/.

Adriana C. Tomasino