Judith Torluemke Rankin was born on February 18, , in St. Louis, to Paul W. Rankin started golfing at the age of six. By , she'd already won the Missouri Amateur and finished as low amateur at the U. Women's Open.
Then she nearly gave up the game. When she was 16, Rankin lost in the second round of the British Ladies Amateur. She was fed up with golf and decided to quit. Two weeks later, an editor at Sports Illustrated called to ask if she'd be playing the coming U. The editor explained the magazine wanted to put a photo of Rankin on its cover, but only if she planned to play the Open.
Rankin decided to start playing again and never looked back. Her first victory didn't come until , but from then through Rankin won 26 times. As a young up-and-comer, she wasn't well-received on Tour at the start. But by the time her career was over, Rankin was a beloved figure among her fellow pros, someone who epitomized sportsmanship and class. Rankin kept winning through , but her play deteriorated due to the effects of back trouble that was severe and plagued her throughout her best seasons.
When her playing days ended, Rankin embarked on a highly successful career as a golf broadcaster, which included being the first woman to work full-time on broadcasts of men's events.
She was diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer in , but within several months was back at work as a broadcaster. I can point to a lot of women who were great to me when I was a little girl. Men seemed more eager to help. Dave Douglas, the pro at St. Louis Country Club two or three times a week and hit balls with Dave Douglas trying to change my grip. Women were different, more prone to slight a kid who beat them, especially one with a less-than-polished pedigree.
An pound girl from a nine-hole course never seemed welcome. That became evident to Judy in when she qualified for and played in her second U. She was 15 and finished as low amateur, showing the kind of grinding determination that would become her trademark. A year later, as a year-old amateur, Judy was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I think some of it had to do with the country club aspect of things. Never in my young life was money not an issue.
Judy Bell has joked with me over time that they could have used me on that Curtis Cup team. So, when I was 17, I turned pro. It was the worst financial decision you could have made. In the early s, it was almost unheard of. Judy played in nine tournaments her first year on tour.
I was really young. When I went back out the summer when I was 18, it stuck. We worked on turning the ball from right to left and controlling it. But when I was 14, I weighed 80 pounds. I was this tiny little kid trying to get the last ounce of distance that I could.
That was important. Now, though, I think a reasonably strong left hand with a good right hand is the most productive way to play.
Productive is one word to describe how Judy played. Then, at age 22, she made the most impetuous move of her life. He was a former college football and baseball player at Texas Tech who went on to coach high school football in his hometown of Midland, Texas. Then he joined Aetna Life Insurance Co. Like most men in West Texas, Yippy also dabbled in oil and gas speculation.
But he never lost that gridiron mindset. He wanted to beat you at everything from golf to tiddlywinks. Judy loved him immediately. They were married three weeks later in Juarez, Mexico. Plus, we were both stubborn as a hoot so we were never going to let this thing fail.
Yippy made me more of a believer. He made me tougher. His kind of encouragement made you a believer. And I never changed my grip, either. She became both in short order. Then in , she won three times, beating the likes of Sandra Haynie and Kathy Whitworth.
From there she was off to the races, winning 26 LPGA events from through She was Player of the Year twice and won the Vare Trophy for low stroke average three times. But, yes, we talked about that later. That was a big influence on him never changing his grip. She also influenced tour moms, leading by example. You were almost on your own when it came to finding a babysitter. At one point, I think there were six kids on tour and Lizzy would take care of all of them while we played.
Tuey was 4 or 5 years old. This one day, he kept aggravating the fire alarm in the hotel. The fire department came. Lizzy had to go to the manager and the firemen and explain what happened. He never did that again. I was functional, but not great.
It was my lower back and I would go into these massive back spasms. There was minimal nerve pain so I could play through it. But I went to chiropractors and took the horse drug Butazolidin. I thought everything wrong with the way I was playing was me.
In hindsight, I know my back affected my game. I think it was driving me toward a nervous breakdown. Tuey would relay them back to me and I would throw them back to Yippy. This was a quality-of-life thing. So I scheduled a meeting with a doctor in Tucson, Ariz.
He wanted me to have surgery. Not everything was exactly the way you see it today, but regardless, I won it on a really difficult day. It was very cold and very windy. I think I shot 68 in the final round. I was pretty happy with the round that day. I was just overwhelmed to have won it. So important. It was, I think, the real catalyst for the mid 70s and the way the LPGA started to be recognized and treated. An awful lot of it was the tournament, an awful lot of it was a really good golf course, but at the time a very young golf course.
And the icing on the cake was when Dinah came on after a couple years. Dinah had so much respect in her industry that it seemed like she brought that respect to our industry. She was just wonderful. She was warm and smiling and encouraging.
She was such a fan of the players. She took up golf because of us and really became kind of an addict, a fanatic. As famous as she was or not, you would really like to know her. At that time, a name like Dinah Shore opened a lot of doors.
Anything that gets eyes on how good these players are today is a worthy experiment. The 18th will go back to its island roots this week with no wall or grandstand. How tough was that hole in its original island form? It was never a two-shot hole for us, certainly not for me.
It was just before the corner, where the water sticks out to the left.
0コメント