Catherine Lacoste

Born: June 27, 1945 in Paris, France

1

Professional - 1
• U.S. Women's Open: 1967

Amateur - 2
• U.S. Women's Amateur: 1969
• British Women's Amateur: 1969

Catherine Lacoste: "I've been so lucky. I achieved my ambitions as a golfer, and I have a wonderful family and a happy, busy life."

• When she won the U.S. Women's Open in 1967 at age 22 years, 5 days, Catherine Lacoste became the first European to win an LPGA major. She also set a record as the youngest to win that tournament. (Se Ri Pak later won at an earlier age.)

• Lacoste was the second non-American to win an LPGA major (in her case, the U.S. Women's Open). Fay Crocker was the first.

What if Bobby Jones had retired after the 1925 season, having won the U.S. Amateur twice and the U.S. Open once? Would he be remembered as one of the all-time greats? Or would he be remembered more as a curiosity, a what-might-have-been?

What Catherine Lacoste might have been had she stuck with golf will never be known. But what she was was a flash across the golf firmament in the late 1960s, a star who burned bright but quickly.

Lacoste never turned pro, and played only a handful of big tournaments. But she won three of the biggest: the U.S. Women's Open, the U.S. Women's Amateur, and the British Women's Amateur. Then she practically gave up the game.

Lacoste was the daughter of French tennis legend Rene Lacoste, who also founded the apparel company that carries the family name. Her mother, Simone de la Chaume, won the 1927 British Women's Amateur - the tournament Catherine would also win 42 years later.

Catherine took up golf at Chantaco Golf Club - founded by her parents - in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France, and quickly dominated the junior circuit in her region.

She developed a powerful game - Golf Digest would many years later call her "arguably the most powerful player of her era."

As a 19-year-old in 1964, Lacoste led the French to victory in the World Amateur Golf Team Championships. She was supposed to play in the European Team Championships in 1967, but decided to skip the event to play the U.S. Women's Open.

Good choice. Lacoste took a 5-stroke lead into the final round, then held on for the victory despite bogeying five straight holes on the back nine of the final round. At the 17th hole, her competitors had to play a long par-5 needing three shots to reach the green. Lacoste pounded a 3-wood over trees to cut the corner of a dogleg, hit the green in two and birdied, sealing the victory.

She remains the only amateur to win the U.S. Women's Open. She was also the first European winner of that tournament and, at the time, the youngest.

In 1969, Lacoste scored an impressive double by winning both the U.S. Women's Amateur and British Women's Amateur.

Then, having won all the tournaments she had set out to win, she essentially gave up the game. Lacoste continued playing for the French in the World Amateur Golf Team Championship in 1970, 1974, 1976 and 1978, but never again played in a top-level individual event.

Instead, she pursued family life, having four children, and business interests. She was president of Chantaco Golf Club for 30 years and still serves on the board of directors of Lacoste, the company her father founded.