Elizabeth May "Betty" Jameson (May 9, 1919 - February 7, 2009) was an American professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950. She won three major championships and a total of thirteen events during her career, one as amateur and twelve as a professional. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Amateur career

Jameson was born in Norman, Oklahoma and graduated from Dallas' Sunset High School in 1939. She started playing golf at age 11. She won the 1932 Texas Publinx title at the age of 13 and the Southern Championship when she was 15. She won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1939 and 1940. She won the Women's Western Amateur in 1940 and 1942. In 1942, she also won the Women's Western Open, a major at the time, while still an amateur.

Professional career

Jameson turned professional in 1945. She was one of the thirteen women who founded the LPGA in 1950. She won a total of thirteen events, including three major championships. In 1947, she won the U.S. Women's Open with a 295 total at the Starmount Forest Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, marking the first time a female golfer scored lower than 300 in a 72-hole tournament. In 1967, when the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame was created, Jameson was one of the six inaugural inductees. The LPGA recognized her induction year into the Hall of Fame of Women's Golf, 1951, as her official induction year into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame. She competed in her final LPGA event, the Burdine's Invitational, in 1970.

Jameson conceived the idea of annually honoring the golfer with the lowest scoring average on the LPGA Tour and, in 1952, donated a trophy for that in the name of Glenna Collett Vare. She was inducted into the Women's Sports Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2004, August 14 was proclaimed "Betty Jameson Day" in Delray Beach, Florida, to commemorate her career accomplishments.

Jameson died in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Professional wins

LPGA Tour wins (13)

• 1942 (1) Women's Western Open (as an amateur)
• 1947 (2) U.S. Women's Open, Women's Texas Open
• 1948 (1) Tampa Open
• 1952 (3) Corpus Christi Tournament, Bakersfield Open (tie with Marlene Hagge, Betsy Rawls, and Babe Zaharias), World Championship
• 1953 (1) Serbin Miami Beach Open
• 1954 (1) Women's Western Open
• 1955 (4) Sarasota Open, Babe Zaharias Open, White Mountain Open, Richmond Open

Other wins

• 1938 Women's Texas Open (as an amateur)
• 1952 Hardscrabble Open
• 1955 Virginia Hot Springs 4-Ball (with Mary Lena Faulk)
• 1958 Homestead 4-Ball (with Mary Lena Faulk)

Major championships

Wins (3)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]