Any conversation around the best female golfers of all time will include the likes of Annika Sorenstam, Mickey Wright and Kathy Whitworth – the Major winners, the record breakers, the icons.
The best of the best have a habit of winning under the greatest pressure. They’re not just champions, though – serial winners with huge trophy cabinets. It’s the impact these players have left on the game that also sets them apart.
Without further ado, and in no particular order (that would be a separate debate), here’s our list of the greatest female golfers of all time (the GOATs).
Karrie Webb
Arguably Australia's greatest ever golfer, Karrie Webb won titles all over the world in relentless fashion, including seven Majors. That she carried the Olympic Torch for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney speaks volumes about her status.
Kathy Whitworth
Kathy Whitworth won an incredible 88 times on the LPGA Tour. She won six Major Championship titles, too, and was the first American captain for the inaugural Solheim Cup in 1990. In 1966, she was victorious nine times, the same year she claimed the first of her seven LPGA Player of the Year titles.
Patty Berg
One of the founding members of the LPGA Tour, Patty Berg is widely thought to be the player who helped revolutionise women's golf. The American holds the record for most Major Championship titles (15).
Louise Suggs
Louise Suggs was another player who helped found the LPGA Tour. She was a modicum of consistency during the 1950s in particular, a decade when she finished outside the top three in the season-ending money list only once.
Mickey Wright
It is believed that Ben Hogan once said that Mickey Wright's swing was the best he had ever seen. It was a silky action that delivered great success – 82 Tour wins, including 13 Major Championships. How about this for consistency? The American won a staggering 10 times or more over the course of four consecutive seasons.
Annika Sorenstam
The first European female player to dominate women's golf, Annika Sorenstam won 72 times on the LPGA Tour, 10 of which were Majors. The Swede shot to prominence in 2003 when she became the first player since Babe Zaharias to play in a men's PGA Tour event. She also has a 59 to her name.
Betsy Rawls
Betsy Rawls was another player who enjoyed periods of domination during the 1950s. Six of her eight Major Championship titles came during this glittering decade. In 1952, she won eight times, and seven years later she bettered that by reaching double digits.
Sandra Haynie
A native of Texas, Haynie won her first LPGA title at the Austin Civitan Open at the age of 19 years and six days. In 1974, she joined Wright as only the second woman to win the LPGA Championship and the US Women’s Open in the same season.
Babe Zaharias
Babe Zaharias won six times in the LPGA’s first full season in 1950. She repeated that feat in 1952, along with Rawls. All this came after she’d won two gold medals at the 1932 Olympics in track and field. A founding member of the LPGA Tour in 1950, she completed what was considered to be the Career Grand Slam at the time the same year. She won a total of 10 Major Championships.
JoAnne Carner
A two-time winner of the US Women's Open, Carner collected 49 wins as a professional. It’s a very impressive total, one that could have been even higher, for she came second 10 times in the Major Championships alone.
Nancy Lopez
Nancy Lopez was widely recognised as the best player in the world during the late 1970s and into the 1980s. The American, who led her country to victory at the 2005 Solheim Cup, amassed 48 LPGA Tour victories, including three Major Championships.
Betsy King
Betsy King joined the LPGA Tour in 1977, winning her first event seven years later at the 1984 Women’s Kemper Open. From 1984-89, the American claimed 20 of her 34 total Tour wins.
Patty Sheehan
Despite showing early promise skiing as a youngster, Patty Sheehan focused on golf and won her first LPGA title a year after turning pro in 1980. When her playing career came to an end, she boasted a stellar roll of honor, which included six Majors, four of which came in her last seven LPGA Tour wins.
Pat Bradley
Pat Bradley's finest season in an illustrious career came in 1986, when the American won three of the four Major Championship titles. The one that got away that year was the US Women's Open, where she finished in a tie for fifth.
Lorena Ochoa
Other greats may boast more victories than Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa, but her dominance in a relatively short period of time deserves special praise. Her impressive haul of 27 LPGA Tour wins came between 2004-2009.
Inbee Park
A prolific winner across a number of Tours, Inee Park has 21 LPGA Tour titles to her name. That figure includes seven Major Championships. Her incredible 2013 season included victories at the first three Majors of the year. The South Korea star is also an Olympic champion, her gold coming at the 2016 Games in Brazil.
Juli Inkster
Juli Inkster's longevity at the top makes her one of the greats. A remarkable twenty-three years separates her first and last wins on the LPGA Tour. She won seven Majors and helped the USA wrestle the Solheim Cup back from Europe in 2015.
Dame Laura Davies
Davies was a winning machine in her pomp. From 1985 to 2010, she registered at least one victory on the Ladies European Tour every year. Add to that 20 LPGA Tour titles and four Majors and that is quite the career. The Englishwoman is also the highest points scorer in Solheim Cup history (25) and has made the most appearances with 12 (46 matches).
Se Ri Pak
A perennial winner, Se Ri Pak changed the women's game. In 1998, she was the only Korean player on the LPGA Tour. Her win at the 1998 US Women's Open is widely thought to have been the catalyst for the boom of golf in her homeland.
Amy Alcott
Amy Alcott captured her first LPGA Tour victory at the 1975 Orange Blossom Classic, in only her third tournament as a professional. She was just 18. Alcott won four tournaments in a season on three separate occasions (1979, 1980 and 1984), and finished her career with five Majors.
Nelly Korda
Is it too soon to list Nelly Korda as one of the all-time greats in the women's game? She rewrote the record books in 2024, winning six in seven. Ultimately, she might be judged by how many Major Championship titles she ends her career with. With the swing she has – regarded as one of the finest in the game – it will surely be more than two.
Beth Daniel
Recognized during the LPGA’s 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA’s top-50 players and teachers, Beth Daniel notched up 32 career wins. Five years after being named 1979 LPGA Rookie of the Year, she became the Tour’s eighth millionaire.
Carol Semple Thompson
Carol Semple Thompson holds a record that’s unlikely to ever be beaten – the most USGA Championship appearances (121). The American won seven in total, and is one of only 11 golfers to win both the US and British Amateur titles.
Which female golfer has the most wins?
The record for the most official tournament wins as a professional belongs to Kathy Whitworth. The American amassed 88 victories between 1962 and 1985.
Which female golfer has won the Most Major Championships?
Patty Berg finished her career with 15 Major Championship titles, the most in the women's game.
