Dottie Pepper

Dottie Pepper was an intense and successful LPGA player until injuries curtailed her career. She then entered a successful career as a golf broadcaster.

Date of birth: August 17, 1965
Place of birth: Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Nickname: Hot Pepper

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Kraft Nabisco Championship: 1992, 1999

• LPGA Vare Trophy (low scoring average), 1992
• LPGA money leader, 1992
• LPGA Player of the Year, 1992
• U.S. Solheim Cup team, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000
• 3-time collegiate All-American

• From 1988 to 1995 she competed as Dottie Mochrie.
• Her 19-under-par finish in the 1999 Kraft Nabisco Championship still stands as the lowest score in relation to par in any major championship on either the LPGA or PGA tours.

Dottie Pepper was a fierce competitor, not afraid to let her feelings show on the course. She started out playing as hot as her temperament until her career was prematurely ended by a series of injuries.

Pepper's career began with big amateur victories in her home state of New York, winning the 1981 state amateur and the 1981 and '83 New York Junior Amateur titles. She was a member of the 1981 Junior World Cup team and low amateur at the 1984 U.S. Women's Open.

She attended Furman University where she was named All-America three times, then turned pro and joined the LPGA Tour in 1987.

Pepper's first victory came at the 1989 Oldsmobile LPGA Classic in a 5-hole playoff win over Beth Daniel.

Early in her career, Pepper's temperament didn't always go over well with other players. She was sometimes viewed as rude or standoffish, someone who was not always polite or politic. Some of her fellow competitors called her "Snottie Dottie" during this time.

Her persona mellowed in later years, but this fiery disposition went over well with fans and produced some great golf. Pepper claimed the first of her two majors - beating another Hall of Famer in a playoff, this time Juli Inkster - at the 1992 Nabisco Dinah Shore.

She won that event again in 1999 with a record-setting score of 19-under par - still the lowest score in relation to par at any LPGA or PGA Tour major.

Pepper was a consistent performer throughout the 1990s, leading the tour in wins in 1992 and '96, in money and scoring in '92, and finishing no lower than fifth on the money list from 1991-96.

But a series of injuries began cropping up that eventually forced her into early retirement. Pepper missed six weeks in 1995 with rotator cuff and thoracic back sprains. She missed much of 2000 with wrist and back injuries.

In 2002, she played only once and required shoulder surgery. She retired following the 2004 season.

Pepper entered golf broadcasting and has been successful on NBC and The Golf Channel.