Jay Golden - Kathy Whitworths Little Book of Golf Wisdom

1962: (2) Kelly Girls Open, Phoenix Thunderbird Open

1963: (8) Carvel Ladies Open, Wolverine Open, Milwaukee Jaycee Open, Ogden Ladies Open, Spokane Womens Open, Hillside Open, San Antonio Civitan Open, Mary Mills Mississippi Gulf Coast Invitational

1964: (1) San Antonio Civitan Open

1965: (8) St. Petersburg Open, Shreveport Kiwanis Invitational, Blue Grass Invitational, Lady Carling Midwest Open, Yankee Open, Buckeye Savings Invitational, Mickey Wright Invitational, Titleholders Championship

1966: (9) Tall City Open, Clayton Federal Invitational, Milwaukee Jaycee Open, Supertest Ladies Open, Lady Carling Open (Sutton), Lady Carling Open (Baltimore), Las Cruces Ladies Open, Amarillo Ladies Open, Titleholders Championship

1967: (8) Venice Ladies Open, Raleigh Ladies Invitational, St. Louis Womens Invitational, Lady Carling Open (Columbus), Ladies Los Angeles Open, Alamo Ladies Open, LPGA Championship, Womens Western Open

1968: (10) St. Petersburg Orange Blossom Open, Dallas Civitan Open, Lady Carling Open, Gino Paoli Open, Holiday Inn Classic, Kings River Open, River Plantation Invitational, Canyon Ladies Classic, Pensacola Ladies Invitational, Louise Suggs Invitational

1969: (7) Orange Blossom Open, Port Charlotte Invitational, Port Malabar Invitational, Lady Carling Open, Patty Berg Classic, Wendell-West Open, River Plantation Womens Open

1970: (2) Orange Blossom Classic, Quality Chekd Classic

1971: (4) Raleigh Golf Classic, Suzuki Golf Internationale, Lady Carling Open, LPGA Championship

1972: (5) Alamo Ladies Open, Raleigh Golf Classic, Knoxville Ladies Classic, Southgate Ladies Open, Portland Ladies Classic

1973: (7) Naples-Lely Classic, S&H Green Stamp Classic, Dallas Civitan Open, Southgate Ladies Open, Portland Ladies Open, Waco Tribune Herald Ladies Classic, Lady Errol Classic

1974: (1) Orange Blossom Classic

1975: (2) Southgate Open, LPGA Championship

1976: (2) Bent Tree Classic, Patty Berg Classic

1977: (3) Colgate-Dinah Shore Winners Circle, American Defender Classic, LPGA Coca-Cola Classic

1978: (1) National Jewish Hospital Open

1981: (1) The Coca-Cola Classic

1982: (2) CPC Womens International, Lady Michelob

1983: (1) Womens Kemper Open

1984: (3) Rochester International, SAFECO Classic, Smirnoff Ladies Irish Open

1985: (1) United Virginia Bank Classic

UNOFFICIAL TITLES

1968: Shells World Series

1971: LPGA Four-Ball Championship (with Judy Kimball Simon)

1975: Colgate Triple Crown

1978: PING Classic (with Donna Caponi)

1980: Portland PING Team Championship (with Donna Caponi)

1981: Portland PING Team Championship (with Donna Caponi)

AMATEUR TITLES

1957: New Mexico State Amateur

1958: New Mexico State Amateur

OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Vare Trophy: (7): 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972

(most in LPGA history).

LPGA Player of the Year: (7): 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973

LPGA Tours Leading Money Winner: (8) 1965-68, 1970-73

Associated Press Athlete of the Year: 1965 and 1967 Named Golfer of the Decade by GOLF magazine for the years 1968-77

Do You Want to be #1?

PERHAPS YOUD LIKE to be the #1 player in the world, #1 at your club, shoot your #1 lowest score, hit your #1 best shot ever, or be the #1 best that you could be.

By the way, being the #1 best you could be is probably the greatest #1.

If you want to be #1, I hope there are things in this book that will help.

Heres a bit of an overview of this book and what it takes to be #1.

First and most importantly, you have to enjoy what youre doing. If you dont enjoy the process, or if youre doing it for someone else, its probably not going to work.

Next is to break the game down into its essential parts. You have to work on your entire game and that starts with improving your swing. I was lucky to have a great teacher, Harvey Penick. It would be a good idea if you could find a good teacher too.

When you make a mistake, figure out why and try not to make it again. Be honest with yourself. I always felt that every bad shot was my fault. Learn how to never give up and keep trying. Play through nervousness.

Learn how to manage a course. That starts with hitting away from trouble and playing your most consistent shot.

You have to break scoring back down to its essentials. Play one shot at a time. Get good at every shot. That comes from learning their fundamentals and practicing what youve learned. Winning is the goal, but it really does take care of itself by playing well.

The attitude that I could always do better is important. It was for me. A reporter interviewing me after shooting a 70 made the comment that I didnt seem happy. I said, If youre satisfied with a 70, youre never going to shoot 69. Always try to improve. Always keep trying to get better.

Becoming #1 takes a lot of work and knowing the right things to do.

Good luck. If you try hard enough, you can do it.

Trusting a Teacher

WHATEVER SPORT YOU play, you have to have help to succeed. When you look at the best players, they all had really good instructors while they were going through the process. You need someone who can put the fundamentals in place. Then, of course, what you do with them is up to you.

I dont care how much natural ability a person has. You have to learn the fundamentals, and its so difficult to learn them by yourself. Its important to have a teacher who knows them and can explain them in a way that is easy to understand.

Another reason why a good teacher is important is that you could be playing well for a while and then your game starts deteriorating. Its usually because one of the fundamentals has gone off. Thats when you need somebody who knows your swing and who you can trust. Every time I got into a slump or started hitting the ball poorly, I had Harvey Penick to go to. Harvey would usually pick out the mistake right away and it was almost always a fundamental that I wasnt doing correctly.

One time in particular, and I dont know why, the clubface was open at address. As a result, I couldnt line up. Then I was either snap hooking because I was overcompensating or hitting it to the right because thats where the clubface was aiming. It was all due to the clubface not being square at address.