Over the past 200+ years, we’ve witnessed thousands of female golfers try to etch their name in history and many of them have enjoyed long, successful careers as a result. Of course, there are only a select few that can be considered among the best female golfers of all time.
While there are plenty of factors that go into putting together such a list of best female golfers, there are three that stand out above the rest — longevity, total wins, and major wins. You want to see them win consistently over a long period of time, but you also want to see them win when it matters most.
Best Female Golfers
As we go through the best female golfers of all time, we’re going to highlight those three areas of greatness and share a brief summary of how their career went — or is going. Without further ado, let’s find out which women are considered the best female golfers ever.
Annika Sorenstam
Sörenstam turned professional in 1992, but missed her LPGA Tour card at the final qualifying tournament by one shot, and began her professional career on the Ladies European Tour (LET), formerly known as the WPGET. She was invited to play in three LPGA Tour events in 1993, where she finished T38th, 4th, and T9th, earning more than $47,000. She finished second four times on the Ladies European Tour and was the 1993 Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year. By tying for 28th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament she earned a non-exempt status for the 1994 season. Sörenstam's first professional win came at the 1994 Holden Women's Australian Open on the ALPG Tour. All these achievements make her the top female golfer.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Annika Charlotta Sörenstam |
| Born | 9 October 1970 (age 51) Bro, Stockholm County, Sweden |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| College | University of Arizona |
| Professional Wins | 94 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 72 |
| Ladies European Tour | 17 |
| LPGA of Japan Tour | 2 |
| ALPG Tour | 4 |
| Other | 4 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| ANA Inspiration | Won: 2001, 2002, 2005 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 1995, 1996, 2006 |
| du Maurier Classic | 2nd: 1998 |
| Women's British Open | Won: 2003 |
Inbee Park
In our famous female golfer list, Inbee Park is among the top. In 2006, after graduating from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, Park appealed to the LPGA for permission to attempt to qualify for the LPGA as a 17-year-old. LPGA rules generally require that a player be 18 to join the Tour. The LPGA denied Park's request, so she enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas but soon after dropped out and turned professional, playing on the Duramed Futures Tour where the age of entry had been lowered to 17 in late January. In 2006, she recorded 11 top-10 finishes on the Futures Tour. She finished third on its season-ending money list to earn exempt status on the LPGA Tour for the 2007 season.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Inbee Park |
| Born | 12 July 1988 (age 33) Seoul, South Korea |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| College | Kwangwoon University |
| Professional Wins | 31 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 21 |
| Ladies European Tour | 3 |
| LPGA of Japan Tour | 4 |
| LPGA of Korea Tour | 1 |
| ALPG Tour | 1 |
| Other | 4 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| ANA Inspiration | Won: 2013 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 2013, 2014, 2015 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 2008, 2013 |
| Women's British Open | Won: 2015 |
| Evian Championship | T8: 2015, 2018, 2019 |
Mickey Wright
Wright joined the LPGA Tour in 1955. She won 82 events on the LPGA Tour, which puts her second on the all-time win list behind Kathy Whitworth, who won 88 times. Thirteen of her victories were in major championships, which places her second to Patty Berg, who won fifteen majors. Wright topped the LPGA money list for four consecutive seasons from 1961 to 1964 and made the top ten on the list thirteen times in total between 1956 and 1969. Wright won at least one LPGA title for 14 straight seasons, from 1956 to 1969.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Mary Kathryn Wright |
| Born | February 14, 1935 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| College | Stanford University |
| Professional Wins | 90 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 82 |
| Other | 8 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| ANA Inspiration | T66: 1984 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 1958, 1959, 1961, 1964 |
| Western Open | Won: 1962, 1963, 1966 |
| Titleholders C'ship | Won: 1961, 1962 |
Nancy Lopez
During her first full season on the LPGA Tour in 1978, Lopez won nine tournaments, including five consecutive. She appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in July, won the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average, LPGA Rookie of the Year, LPGA Player of the Year, and was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. She won another eight times in 1979, and won multiple times in each year from 1980 to 1984, although she played only half-seasons in 1983 and 1984 due to the birth of her first child.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Nancy Marie Lopez |
| Born | January 6, 1957 (age 65) Torrance, California, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| College | University of Tulsa |
| Professional Wins | 52 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 48 |
| LPGA of Japan Tour | 1 |
| Other | 3 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| ANA Inspiration | T3: 1995 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 1978, 1985, 1989 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 2nd/T2: 1975, 1977, 1989, 1997 |
| du Maurier Classic | 2nd/T2: 1979, 1981, 1996 |
Betsy King
King joined the LPGA Tour in 1977. She won her first tournament at the 1984 Women's Kemper Open. She won three titles in 1984 and added 21 top-10 finishes to earn LPGA Tour Player of the Year honors. From 1984 through 1989, she won a total of 20 LPGA events, more wins than any other golfer in the world, male or female, during that time period.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Betsy King |
| Born | August 13, 1955 (age 66) Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| College | Furman University |
| Professional Wins | 41 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 34 |
| Ladies European Tour | 1 |
| LPGA of Japan Tour | 3 |
| Other | 3 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| ANA Inspiration | Won: 1987, 1990, 1997 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 1992 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 1989, 1990 |
| du Maurier Classic | 2nd/T2: 1989, 1993 |
| Women's British Open | 59th: 2002 |
Juli Inkster
She turned professional and enjoyed success in her rookie year of 1983 with a victory at the Safeco Classic. She won two major championships in 1984, her first full LPGA season, and was LPGA Rookie of the Year. She has won 31 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, including seven majors and the career Grand Slam for ladies' golf. As of 2012, she is fifth on the LPGA career money list. Inkster won a tournament in 16 out of 24 seasons from 1983 to 2006, but has never finished at the top of the money list; her best finishes were second in 1999 and third in both 1986 and 2002.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Juli Simpson Inkster |
| Born | June 24, 1960 (age 61) Santa Cruz, California, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| College | San Jose State University |
| Professional Wins | 45 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 31 |
| Ladies European Tour | 2 |
| Other | 13 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| ANA Inspiration | Won: 1984, 1989 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 1999, 2000 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 1999, 2002 |
| du Maurier Classic | Won: 1984 |
| Women's British Open | T4: 2006 |
| Evian Championship | T26: 2017 |
Karrie Webb
Webb began her professional golfing career in 1994 playing on the Ladies European Tour, where she finished second at the Women's Australian Open, and the Futures Tour in the U.S., where she won one tournament. In 1995 she became the youngest ever winner of the Weetabix Women's British Open in her rookie season in Europe, prior to it being classed as an LPGA major, and was European Rookie of the Year. She qualified for the LPGA Tour after she finished second at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, despite playing with a broken bone on her wrist.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Karrie Anne Webb |
| Born | 21 December 1974 (age 47) Ayr, Queensland, Australia |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)[ |
| Professional Wins | 56 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 41 |
| Ladies European Tour | 15 |
| LPGA of Japan Tour | 3 |
| ALPG Tour | 13 |
| Symetra Tour | 1 |
| Other | 2 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| ANA Inspiration | Won: 2000, 2006 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 2001 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 2000, 2001 |
| du Maurier Classic | Won: 1999 |
| Women's British Open | Won: 2002 |
| Evian Championship | 2nd: 2014 |
Kathy Whitworth
In 1962, Whitworth won her first tournament, the Kelly Girls Open. She won a total of six major championships. She was LPGA Player of the Year seven times between 1966 and 1973, won the Vare Trophy for best scoring average by an LPGA Tour Player a record seven times between 1965 and 1972, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975. She was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 1965 and 1967. She was Named "Golfer of the Decade" by Golf Magazine for the years 1968 to 1977 during the 1988 Centennial of Golf in America celebration. She received the 1985 William Richardson Award from the Golf Writers Association of America for consistent outstanding contributions to golf.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Kathrynne Ann Whitworth |
| Born | September 27, 1939 (age 82) Monahans, Texas |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| College | Odessa College |
| Professional Wins | 98 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 88 |
| Ladies European Tour | 1 |
| Other | 9 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| Western Open | Won: 1967 |
| Titleholders C'ship | Won: 1965, 1966 |
| ANA Inspiration | T2: 1983 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 1967, 1971, 1975 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 2nd: 1971 |
| du Maurier Classic | T14: 1980 |
Betsy Rawls
Rawls turned professional in 1951 and joined the LPGA Tour. She won her first tournament that year at the Sacramento Women's Invitational Open. She would go on to win a total of 55 events on the LPGA Tour, including eight major championships. In 1959, she earned the LPGA Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. She was the tour's leading money winner in 1952 and 1959 and finished in the top ten on the money list a total of nine times. She led the tour in wins three times, 1952 with eight, 1957 with five (tied with Patty Berg), and 1959 with ten.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Elizabeth Earle Rawls |
| Born | May 4, 1928 (age 94) Spartanburg, South Carolina |
| College | University of Texas |
| Professional Wins | 58 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 55 |
| Other | 3 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| Western Open | Won: 1952, 1959 |
| Titleholders C'ship | 2nd: 1952, 1953, 1959 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 1959, 1969 |
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 1951, 1953, 1957, 1960 |
Lydia Ko
After finishing runner-up to Suzann Pettersen in The Evian Championship in France, Ko announced that she would turn pro in 2014. However, on 23 October 2013, she stated in a YouTube video featuring New Zealand rugby player Israel Dagg that she was turning professional immediately and would play her first professional tournament in Florida in mid-November. She had been the top-ranked woman amateur golfer in the world for 130 weeks when she announced she was turning professional on 23 October 2013. She finished tied for 21st in her pro debut at the 2013 CME Group Titleholders.
In October 2013, the LPGA Tour granted Ko's request to join the LPGA, waiving the Tour's requirement of members being at least 18 years old. "It is not often that the LPGA welcomes a rookie who is already a back-to-back LPGA Tour champion," Tour commissioner Mike Whan said when he granted Ko's request.
Personal Information
| Full Name | Bo-Gyung "Lydia" Ko |
| Born | 24 April 1997 (age 25) Seoul, South Korea |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| College | Korea University |
| Professional Wins | 29 |
List of Professional Wins
| LPGA Tour | 17 |
| Ladies European Tour | 6 |
| LPGA of Korean Tour | 1 |
| ALPG Tour | 5 |
Best Results in LPGA Major Championships
| ANA Inspiration | Won: 2016 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | 2nd: 2016 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T3: 2016 |
| Women's British Open | T3: 2015 |
| Evian Championship | Won: 2015 |
Summary of Famous Female Golfers
Those will be the top 10 best female golfers of all time. Are any female golfers reading this post ?? If you are then for sure you will be inspired by all the lady golfers mentioned above as their achievements are remarkable and just outstanding. There are many more amazing female golfers which we have not included here but not to forget their achievements too. Cheers!
Common FAQs about Best Female Golfer
Who is the world's best female golfer?
Minjee Lee
Who is the best looking LPGA golfer?
Sandra Gal
Who is number one on the LPGA?
Ko Jin-young
Which female golfer has won the most majors?
Patty Berg
Who is the most stylish golfer?
Sam Ryder
Who is the best woman golfer of all time?
Annika Sörenstam is often regarded as the greatest female golfer of all-time
Who is the famous woman golfer?
Mickey Wright
Who was the first female golfer?
The first female golfer is noted to some as Mary Stuart (The Queen of Scotland from 1542 – 1567).
