CNN
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Kathy Whitworth, the winningest golfer in historical past, has died on the age of 83, the Girls Skilled Golf Affiliation introduced on Sunday.
Whitworth died immediately Saturday evening whereas celebrating Christmas Eve with household and pals, her longtime companion Bettye Odle stated.
“Kathy left this world the way in which she lived her life, loving, laughing and creating recollections,” Odle stated in a press release.
Odle didn’t disclose any particulars on the reason for loss of life.
Whitworth is taken into account one of many best golfers of all time. She had 88 wins on the LPGA Tour which embrace six LPGA main championships. Her 88 wins are six greater than Sam Snead and Tiger Woods, who maintain the report for the lads’s recreation.
In 1981, Whitworth grew to become the primary LPGA golfer to earn $1 million in profession earnings. A 12 months later, she was inducted into the World Golf Corridor of Fame.
“Kathy was a champion within the truest sense of the phrase, each on the golf course and off. Within the brief time I spent with Kathy, I used to be actually blown away by her and her method to the sport and to life,” LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan added within the statement.
“Her energy, insightfulness and vibrancy have been apparent from the minute you met her! She impressed me as a younger woman and now because the commissioner and I do know she did the identical for therefore many others. All of us mourn with Bettye, her household and the complete golf world.”