"PGA Champion" Judy Rankin Hand Signed 3X5 Card Todd Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction
"PGA Champion" Judy Rankin Hand Signed 3X5 Card. This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-2471
Judy Torluemke Rankin
(born February 18, 1945) is an American professional
golfer
and golf broadcaster. A member of the
World Golf Hall of Fame
, she joined the
LPGA Tour
in 1962 at age 17 and won 26 tour events. Rankin is currently the lead analyst for the LPGA Tour telecasts on
Golf Channel
, works select
PGA Tour
events for the network as an on-course reporter
[1]
and also serves as an expert analyst for golf coverage on
ESPN/ABC
.
Born and raised in
St. Louis
,
Missouri
, Rankin won the Missouri Amateur at age 14 in 1959. The next year she was the low amateur at the
U.S. Women's Open
, and was on the cover of
Sports Illustrated
in 1961 at age 16.
[4]
She turned pro the following year. Rankin's first
LPGA Tour
win came in 1968 and she won 26 events, topping the money list in
1976
and
1977
. She finished in the top ten on the money list eleven times between 1965 and 1979, and was the first to win over
$
100,000 in a season on the LPGA Tour (over 0,000 in 1976).
Although Rankin did not win a
major championship
, she was a four-time runner-up. Her best finishes were a second at the
1976 LPGA Championship
and tied seconds at the
1972 Titleholders Championship
,
1972 U.S. Women's Open
, and
1977 LPGA Championship
. Rankin won the Colgate Dinah Shore Winner's Circle (currently the
ANA Inspiration
) in 1976 and the Peter Jackson Classic (later renamed the
du Maurier Classic
) in 1977; both events were later elevated to major status, but are not counted as majors in the years in which Rankin won. Her 26th and final win on tour was in August
1979
at
Jericho, New York
.
Rankin was LPGA Player of the Year twice (1976, 1977) and won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average three times. She retired from full-time competition at age 38 in
1983
due to chronic back problems, and later captained the victorious
Solheim Cup
teams in
1996
and
1998
. Rankin became the first player voted into the
LPGA Tour
Hall of Fame
in 2000 under the veterans category, and she was also inducted into the
World Golf Hall of Fame
in 2000. In 2002, she was voted the
Bob Jones Award
, the highest honor given by the
United States Golf Association
in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. She was awarded a star on the
St. Louis Walk of Fame
in April 2013.