Beth Daniel

Beth Daniel
Daniel posing in the U.S. Solheim Cup team uniform after the 2009 team was announced at Royal Lytham & St Annes
Personal information
Born	(1956-10-14) October 14, 1956 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Sporting nationality	United States
Residence	Delray Beach, Florida, U.S.
Partner	Meg Mallon
Career
College	Furman University
Turned professional	1978
Current tour(s)	LPGA Tour (joined 1979)
Professional wins	41
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	33
LPGA of Japan Tour	4
Other	4
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 1)
Chevron Championship	T2: 1983
Women's PGA C'ship	Won: 1990
U.S. Women's Open	2nd/T2: 1981, 1982
du Maurier Classic	2nd: 1982
Women's British Open	T5: 2004
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2000 (member page) LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year 1979 LPGA Tour Money Winner 1980, 1981, 1990 LPGA Tour Player of the Year 1980, 1990, 1994 LPGA Vare Trophy 1989, 1990, 1994 GWAA Female Player of the Year 1980, 1990 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 1990 LPGA Heather Farr Award 2003 Broderick Award 1977

Beth Daniel (born October 14, 1956) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1979 and won 33 LPGA Tour events, including one major championship, during her career. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Early life and amateur career

Daniel was born on October 14, 1956, in Charleston, South Carolina. She played her collegiate golf at Furman University, and was on the 1976 national championship team that included future LPGA players Betsy King, Sherri Turner and Cindy Ferro. In 1977, she won the Broderick Award (now the Honda Sports Award) as the nation's best female collegiate golfer. Daniel won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1975 and 1977, the Women's Western Amateur in 1978, and was on the U.S. Curtis Cup teams in 1976 and 1978 (going 4-0 in 1976). She turned pro at the end of 1978 and joined the LPGA Tour in 1979.

Professional career

Daniel's first victory came in 1979 year at the Patty Berg Classic, and she went on to win the LPGA Rookie of the Year award. Over the next five years, when Nancy Lopez was at her most dominant, she still managed to win 13 tournaments, including four in 1980 when she was named LPGA Tour Player of the Year. Daniel led the Tour in wins in 1982, 1990 and 1994. She also led in scoring three times, including in 1989 when she became the second golfer in Tour history to record a scoring average below 71.00.

The year 1990 was Daniel’s most successful on tour. She won seven times, including her lone major at the Mazda LPGA Championship. That year she was also named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. Along the way, she endured two major slumps. She was winless from 1986 to 1988 and again from 1996 to 2002. When she finally won again in 2003, she became - at age 46 years, 8 months and 29 days - the oldest winner in Tour history. She had outlasted most of her contemporaries such as King, Patty Sheehan and Amy Alcott, remaining competitive on the LPGA Tour.

Daniel won the Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year in 1980 and 1990. She also won the 1981 Seagrams Seven Crowns of Sport Award for women’s golf. She was inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in September 1995. She was recognized during the LPGA’s 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA’s top-50 players and teachers.

Daniel played on eight U.S. Solheim Cup teams (1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005).

By 2005 Daniel had cut back her schedule, and played just five events by 2007. That year she also served as assistant captain on the U.S. Solheim Cup team, and was named captain for the American squad in 2009. In 2007, she joined the Golf Channel as a substitute analyst for LPGA Tournament coverage. Her first event was the 2007 Safeway Classic.

Daniel also awards the best junior female golfer in South Carolina with the Beth Daniel Award. The award is given to the player with the most SCJGA (South Carolina Junior Golf Association) points in a year.

In 2009, Daniel was the captain of the U.S. Solheim Cup team that defeated Europe by a score of 16–12 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.

Professional wins (41)

LPGA Tour wins (33)

Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (32)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 26, 1979	Patty Berg Classic	−11 (68-69-71=208)	4 strokes	Hollis Stacy
2	Jun 1, 1980	Golden Lights Championship	−1 (72-74-70-71=287)	2 strokes	Nancy Lopez Jo Ann Washam
3	Aug 17, 1980	Patty Berg Golf Classic	−9 (60-70-72=210)	2 strokes	Hollis Stacy
4	Aug 24, 1980	Columbia Savings LPGA Classic	−12 (71-66-67-72=276)	6 strokes	Jane Blalock Sandra Post
5	Sep 7, 1980	World Series of Women's Golf	−6 (71-72-68-71=282)	1 stroke	Nancy Lopez
6	Apr 19, 1981	Florida Lady Citrus	−7 (68-67-74-72-281)	Playoff	Donna Caponi Cindy Hill Patti Rizzo Patty Sheehan
7	Aug 23, 1981	World Championship of Women's Golf	−4 (72-72-69-71=284)	1 stroke	Jan Stephenson
8	Feb 21, 1982	Bent Tree Ladies Classic	−12 (71-71-66-68=276)	4 strokes	Amy Alcott
9	Mar 7, 1982	American Express Sun City Classic	−10 (70-67-71-70=278)	Playoff	Carole Jo Kabler
10	May 2, 1982	Birmingham Classic	−13 (64-70-69=203)	4 strokes	Patty Sheehan
11	Aug 1, 1982	Columbia Savings Classic	−12 (72-68-72-64=276)	2 strokes	Patty Sheehan
12	Aug 15, 1982	WUI Classic	−12 (68-68-67-73=276)	8 strokes	Martha Nause Ayako Okamoto
13	Jul 17, 1983	McDonald's Kids Classic	−2 (67-71-73-75=286)	Playoff	JoAnne Carner
14	Apr 14, 1985	Kyocera Inamori Classic	−2 (70-70-74-72=286)	2 strokes	Pat Meyers
15	Aug 6, 1989	Greater Washington Open	−8 (66-68-71=205)	4 strokes	Sherri Turner
16	Sep 4, 1989	Rail Charity Golf Classic	−13 (69-70-64=203)	3 strokes	Betsy King Alice Ritzman
17	Sep 17, 1989	Safeco Classic	−15 (69-69-65-70=273	6 strokes	Cindy Rarick
18	Oct 1, 1989	Konica San Jose Classic	−11 (65-67-73=205)	1 stroke	Pat Bradley
19	Feb 24, 1990	Orix Hawaiian Ladies Open	−6 (71-67-72=210)	3 strokes	Amy Benz Patty Sheehan
20	Mar 4, 1990	Women's Kemper Open	−1 (73-75-66-69=283)	1 stroke	Laura Davies Rosie Jones
21	Jul 23, 1990	The Phar-Mor in Youngstown	−9 (65-69-73=207)	Playoff	Patty Sheehan
22	Jul 29 1990	Mazda LPGA Championship	−4 (71-73-70-66=280)	1 stroke	Rosie Jones
23	Aug 26, 1990	Northgate Classic	−13 (66-69-68=203)	6 strokes	Penny Hammel Christa Johnson
24	Sep 3, 1990	Rail Charity Golf Classic	−13 (67-69-67=203)	3 strokes	Susan Sanders
25	Oct 7, 1990	Centel Classic	−17 (71-63-68-69=271)	1 stroke	Nancy Lopez
26	Feb 10, 1991	The Phar-Mor at Inverrary	−7 (67-73-69=209)	2 strokes	Nancy Lopez
27	Jul 23, 1991	McDonald's Championship	−11 (67-71-67-68=273)	4 strokes	Pat Bradley Sally Little
28	May 29, 1994	LPGA Corning Classic	−10 (67-71-71-69=278)	1 stroke	Stephanie Farwig Nancy Ramsbottom
29	Jun 5, 1994	Oldsmobile Classic	−20 (67-63-70-68-268)	4 strokes	Lisa Kiggens
30	Jul 17, 1994	JAL Big Apple Classic	−8 (70-69-66-71=276)	Playoff	Laura Davies
31	Oct 16, 1994	World Championship of Women's Golf	−14 (68-70-71-65=274)	3 strokes	Elaine Crosby
32	Aug 13, 1995	PING/Welch's Championship (Boston)	−17 (65-68-69-69=271)	3 strokes	Meg Mallon Colleen Walker
33	Jul 15, 2003	BMO Financial Group Canadian Women's Open	−13 (69-69-69-68=275)	1 stroke	Juli Inkster

LPGA Tour playoff record (5–6)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1981	Florida Lady Citrus	Donna Caponi Cindy Hill Patti Rizzo Patty Sheehan	Won with birdie on second extra hole Hill, Rizzo, and Sheehan eliminated by par on first hole
2	1982	American Express Sun City Classic	Carole Jo Kabler	Won with birdie on second extra hole
3	1983	McDonald's Kids Classic	JoAnne Carner	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1983	Columbia Savings Classic	Pat Bradley	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
5	1988	Atlantic City LPGA Classic	Juli Inkster	Lost to par on first extra hole
6	1989	Oldsmobile LPGA Classic	Dottie Mochrie	Lost to par on fifth extra hole
7	1990	The Phar-Mor in Youngstown	Patty Sheehan	Won with birdie on first extra hole
8	1991	Northgate Computer Classic	Jody Anschutz Cindy Rarick	Rarick won with birdie on third extra hole Anschutz eliminated by par on first hole
9	1992	The Phar-Mor in Youngstown	Donna Andrews Betsy King Meg Mallon	King won with birdie on first extra hole
10	1992	Sun-Times Challenge	Judy Dickinson Dottie Pepper	Pepper won with par on sixth extra hole Daniel eliminated by par on fourth hole
11	1994	JAL Big Apple Classic	Laura Davies	Won with birdie on first extra hole

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (4)

• 1979 World Ladies
• 1988 Nichirei International
• 1990 Konica Cup World Ladies
• 1991 Konica Cup World Ladies

Other wins (4)

• 1981 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Tom Kite)
• 1990 JCPenney Classic (with Davis Love III)
• 1995 JCPenney Classic (with Davis Love III)
• 1999 World Golf Hall of Fame Championship (with Johnny Miller)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1990	Mazda LPGA Championship	−4 (71-73-70-66=280)	1 stroke	Rosie Jones

Results timeline

! Tournament	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980
LPGA Championship				T38	T3
U.S. Women's Open	CUT	T24	T53	T20	T10
du Maurier Classic	...	...	...	T16	T5

! Tournament	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
Kraft Nabisco Championship	...	...	T2	4	T11	T7	T22		T6	T6
LPGA Championship	T5	T7	T16	T2	T10	T15	T58		T14	1
U.S. Women's Open	2	T2	WD	T10	CUT	T21	T33	T10	T20	T6
du Maurier Classic	T17	2	T63	T6	T14	27	CUT	T47	T7	3

! Tournament	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Kraft Nabisco Championship	T30	T8	T69	T19	T47		CUT	72	T43	T47
LPGA Championship	4	T35	T17	T7	T18	T26		T58	CUT	T33
U.S. Women's Open	T11	CUT	T53	T18	CUT	T19		T31	T47	8
du Maurier Classic		WD	T17	CUT	T45	T36		T54	T13	T23

! Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Kraft Nabisco Championship	T55	T14	T5	T40	T9	T13
LPGA Championship	T26	2	T3	T39	T54	T39	CUT
U.S. Women's Open	T24	T7	T20	T27	CUT
Women's British Open ^	CUT	T16	T14	T5	T56	T6	T50

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut.
WD = withdrew
T = tied

Summary

• Starts – 105
• Wins – 1
• 2nd-place finishes – 6
• 3rd-place finishes – 3
• Top 3 finishes – 10
• Top 5 finishes – 16
• Top 10 finishes – 33
• Top 25 finishes – 60
• Missed cuts – 13
• Most consecutive cuts made – 23
• Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (twice)

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Curtis Cup: 1976 (winners), 1978 (winners)
• Espirito Santo Trophy: 1978

Professional

• Solheim Cup: 1990 (winners), 1992, 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 2000, 2002 (winners), 2003, 2005 (winners), 2009 (non-playing captain, winners)
• World Cup: 2005
• Handa Cup: 2007 (winners), 2008 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2010 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2012 (tie, Cup retained), 2013, 2014 (winners), 2015 (winners)

See also

• List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
• List of golfers with most LPGA major championship wins

External links

• Beth Daniel at the LPGA Tour official site
• Beth Daniel at the Legends Tour official site (also at former site)
• Beth Daniel at golf.about.com at the Wayback Machine (archived March 2, 2017)