Winningest golfer in history, dies at 83

But she was identified by one number — 88.

Snead was credited with a record 82 wins on the PGA Tour, a total Woods has since matched. Wright won 82 times on the LPGA Tour, while Sorenstam had 72 wins when she retired after the 2006 season at age 36.

"I think Mickey had the best swing, and was probably the greatest golfer," Betsy Rawls once told Golf Digest. "But Kathy was the best player of the game that I have ever seen."

Whitworth was born in Monahans, a small West Texas town, and learned to play golf in New Mexico. She started at age 15 in Jal, New Mexico, on the nine-hole course built for the El Paso Natural Gas employees.

She soon was a two-time winner of the New Mexico State Amateur. After briefly attending Odessa (Texas) College, she turned pro at age 19 and joined the LPGA Tour in December 1958.

"I was really fortunate in that I knew what I wanted to do," Whitworth once told Golf Digest. "Golf just grabbed me by the throat. I can't tell you how much I loved it. I used to think everyone knew what they wanted to do when they were 15 years old."

Wright had the more aesthetically pleasing swing. Whitworth was all about grinding, and about winning.

Whitworth won eight times in 1963 and 1965, and she had 11 victories in 1968. In none of those years did she earn more than $50,000. All these years later, the LPGA Tour total prize fund for 2023 will top $100 million.

Whitworth continued to conduct junior clinics and stay active in the game.

"I don't think about the legacy of 88 tournaments," she once said. "I did it because I wanted to win, not to set a record or a goal that no one else could surpass. I'm not some great oddity. I was just fortunate to be so successful. What I did in being a better player does not make me a better person.

"When I'm asked how I would like to be remembered, I feel that if people remember me at all, it will be good enough."

Xinhua