Mickey Wright would’ve been 89 today. The LPGA legend died of a heart attack on Feb. 17, 2020, three days after her 85th birthday. The fact that Wright’s birthday fell on Valentine’s Day seems fitting given that she possessed a golf swing that was so universally loved. Ben Hogan considered it the best in golf.
When Wright died, she left her entire estate to her beloved USGA, and asked that her ashes be placed beneath the bay window of the Mickey Wright Room, which opened in 2012. Wright never visited the room but kept a scrapbook of articles that were written about it.
The legend of Wright grew because she was both immensely talented and private.
Here are five things to love about one of golf’s great treasures:
Her mind
Wright was a meticulous person, charting everything from her calorie intake to a stock’s performance. She left behind stacks of ledgers with hand-drawn graphs. The USGA packed up Wright’s desk and took it to Far Hills, including the adding machine, a lamp and a 2014 Curtis Cup mouse pad.
Wright filled up notebooks with swing thoughts and kept dozens of VHS tapes of her golf highlights. She even had a professional studio preserve certain clips, giving future generations priceless footage.
She left nothing to chance, even stockpiling her favorite lipstick, Revlon’s Love that Pink, in case they quit making her shade.
Her magical season
No one has more victories in a single season than Wright, who won 13 times in 1963. Wright competed in 28 of the 32 official events that season and won $31,269 for her efforts.
She recorded 23 top-3 finishes and placed in the top five 24 times. She finished outside the top 10 only once in ’63, a tie for 29th at the Rock City Ladies Open. Wright’s 27 top-10 finishes in 28 starts set a record that stands today.
“Mickey Wright: Greatest golf swing I ever saw. Boy, what a swing!” -Ben Hogan
“For the fundamentals, the greatest swing belonged to Mickey Wright.”
-Byron NelsonIndeed, the four-time #USWomensOpen champion even made a 2-iron look easy to hit. #NationalComplimentDay pic.twitter.com/pbQuSTNL62
— USGA (@USGA) January 24, 2018
Her major record
The USGA named the U.S. Women’s Open medal after Wright in 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of the championship. Wright joined Jack Nicklaus as the only players to have USGA medals named in their honor.
Wright’s 13 major victories ranks second only to Patty Berg’s 15. While she shares the record for most U.S. Women’s Open trophies with Betsy Rawls at four, Wright is the only player in LPGA history to have won the KPMG Women’s PGA (formerly known as the LPGA Championship) four times. She completed the career Grand Slam in 1962.
The format Stanford player is also the only player in tour history to win four consecutive majors, though they spanned over the course of two seasons: 1961 U.S. Women’s Open, 1961 LPGA Championship, 1962 Titleholders Championship, 1962 Western Open.
Her swing
Wright credits instructor Harry Pressler with building the swing that garnered so much envy. In 1949, Wright played the first Southern California Junior Girls Championship at San Gabriel Country Club, where Pressler was the head professional. At the end of the tournament, Pressler came up to Wright and said, “If you ever want to improve your swing, just give me a call.”
Wright and her mom promptly took him up on it. Pressler happened to be going to San Diego the next week and stopped by the Wrights’ home. Mickey had her first golf lesson right there in the living room, and it lasted more than two hours.
Every Saturday for the next two years, Wright and her mother drove to San Gabriel (250 miles round trip) for a lesson with Pressler.
“He was absolutely the best teacher in the country, as far as I was concerned,” Wright told Golfweek. “He gets all the credit for it … all I did was practice.”
Her only regret
Wright won 82 times on the LPGA, ranking second to Kathy Whitworth’s 88. The big-hitting Wright, who was especially brilliant with her long irons, carded a victory in 14 consecutive seasons from 1956 to 1969.
Her most stunning stretch came from 1960 to 64, when she won 50 times in five seasons. She still holds the record for youngest to reach 30, 40 and 50 wins.
She was also the fastest to reach 50 wins at 8 years, 8 months and 21 days. (Only six women in the history of the game have won more than 50 times.)
“To win five of their championships, the U.S. Girls’ Junior and four Women’s Opens, has always been my most cherished accomplishment in golf,” Wright said of the USGA back in 2012. “My only regret was not being able to win a fifth Women’s Open. Someday, perhaps, someone will.”
