Jan Stephenson

Jan Stephenson
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Jan Lynne Stephenson
Born	(1951-12-22) 22 December 1951 Sydney, Australia
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Nationality	Australia
Residence	Windermere, Florida
Career
College	Hales College
Turned professional	1973
Former tour(s)	LPGA Tour (joined 1974) ALPG Tour (joined 1973)
Professional wins	26
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	16
Ladies European Tour	1
LPGA of Japan Tour	2
ALPG Tour	2
Other	5
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 3)
ANA Inspiration	2nd: 1985
Women's PGA C'ship	Won: 1982
U.S. Women's Open	Won: 1983
du Maurier Classic	Won: 1981
Women's British Open	DNP
Achievements and awards
LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year	1974

Jan Lynne Stephenson (born 22 December 1951) is an Australian professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974 and won three major championships and 16 LPGA Tour events in all.

Career

Stephenson was born in Sydney. While a teenager, she won five consecutive New South Wales Schoolgirl Championships in Australia, beginning in 1964, and followed that up with three straight wins in the New South Wales Junior Championship. She turned professional in 1973 and won the Wills Australian Ladies Open that year. Stephenson joined the LPGA Tour in 1974 and was named LPGA Rookie of the Year.^[1]

Stephenson's first LPGA victory was the 1976 Sarah Coventry Naples Classic. Her most productive period was the early 1980s, when she won all of her majors in consecutive years: 1981 Peter Jackson Classic, the 1982 LPGA Championship and the 1983 U.S. Women's Open.^[1]

Stephenson was one of the first LPGA stars to openly embrace and champion a sex-sells approach to marketing. Stephenson became as famous for her sex appeal as her golf during the early to mid-1980s, when she posed in a bathtub – covered up only by the golf balls filling the tub – and later in a pinup calendar. She urged the LPGA Tour to fully embrace her approach to marketing.^[1]

On the golf course, Stephenson won three times each in 1981, 1983 and 1987, those wins in 1987 being her final ones on the LPGA. Stephenson continued playing LPGA events throughout the 1990s, but was hampered by an injury incurred during a mugging in Miami in 1990. Her left ring finger was broken in two places, an injury that still bothers her play in cold or wet weather.^[1]

Stephenson went on to win on the Women's Senior Golf Tour, a tour she helped found. In 2003, she became the first woman to play on the Champions Tour, missing the cut. Stephenson is among the few women in the course design business, and produced an exercise video for people with arthritis. Her many charitable efforts include being an honorary chairman of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.^[1]

Stephenson was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.^[2] She was a contestant in the 2011 season of Dancing with the Stars on Channel Seven.

Controversy

She made a controversial remark in 2003 when she said "Asians are killing the (LPGA) Tour", referring to the large number of Korean-born players who were winning on tour, and calling for quotas on international players, which is ironic because she was also an international player. She later apologised, saying that she "did not intend to make it a racial issue."^[3]

Professional wins (26)

LPGA Tour (16)

Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (3)
Other LPGA Tour (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	8 Feb 1976	Sarah Coventry Naples Classic	+2 (73-69-76=218)	1 stroke	Sandra Haynie Judy Meister
2	25 Apr 1976	Birmingham Classic	−13 (65-70-68=203)	4 strokes	Kathy Martin
3	8 May 1978	Women's International	−5 (68-72-69-74=283)	4 strokes	Beth Daniel (a)
4	2 Mar 1980	Sun City Classic	−13 (66-71-67-71=275)	1 stroke	M.J. Smith
5	5 Jul 1981	Peter Jackson Classic	−10 (69-66-70-73=278)	1 stroke	Pat Bradley Nancy Lopez
6	16 Aug 1981	Mary Kay Classic	−18 (65-69-64=198)	11 strokes	Sandra Haynie
7	13 Sep 1981	United Virginia Bank Classic	−14 (66-71-68=205)	3 strokes	Janet Alex Sally Little
8	13 Jun 1982	LPGA Championship	−9 (69-69-70-71=279)	2 strokes	JoAnne Carner
9	20 Jun 1982	Lady Keystone Open	−5 (71-71-69=211)	1 stroke	Barbara Moxness Alexandra Reinhardt
10	27 Feb 1983	Tucson Conquistadores LPGA Open	−9 (72-68-67=207)	5 strokes	Amy Alcott
11	19 Jun 1983	Lady Keystone Open	−11 (69-67-69=205)	1 stroke	Pat Bradley
12	31 Jul 1983	U.S. Women's Open	+6 (72-73-71-74=290)	1 stroke	JoAnne Carner Patty Sheehan
13	24 Mar 1985	GNA Classic	+2 (70-73-72-75=290)	1 stroke	Amy Alcott Pat Bradley Barbara Moxness
14	19 Apr 1987	Santa Barbara Open	−1 (74-68-73=215)	1 stroke	Jane Geddes Ayako Okamoto
15	20 Sep 1987	Safeco Classic	−11 (68-70-71-68=277)	1 stroke	Nancy Lopez
16	27 Sep 1987	Konica San Jose Classic	−11 (69-71-65=205)	5 strokes	Amy Alcott

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1979	Women's Kemper Open	Donna Caponi JoAnne Carner Chako Higuchi Nancy Lopez	Carner won with par on second extra hole Caponi, Lopez, and Stephenson eliminated with par on first hole
2	1981	Inamori Classic	Amy Alcott Donna Caponi Hollis Stacy	Stacy won with birdie on first extra hole
3	1986	Mayflower Classic	Christa Johnson Sandra Palmer	Palmer won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1999	Firstar LPGA Classic	Becky Iverson Rosie Jones	Jones won with par on fourth extra hole Stephenson eliminated with par on first hole

ALPG Tour (2)

1973 (1) Wills Australian Ladies Open
1977 (1) Wills Qantas Australian Ladies Open

Ladies European Tour (1)

1985 (1) Hennessy French Open

LPGA of Japan Tour (2)

1981 (1) World Ladies Golf Tournament
1985 (1) Nichirei Ladies Cup

Legends Tour (3)

2000 HyVee Classic
2005 BJ's Charity Championship (with Cindy Rarick; tie with Pat Bradley and Patty Sheehan)
2007 Handa Australia Cup

Other (2)

1983 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Fred Couples)
1990 JCPenney/LPGA Skins Game

Major championships

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1981	Peter Jackson Classic	−10 (69-66-70-73=278)	1 stroke	Pat Bradley, Nancy Lopez-Melton
1982	LPGA Championship	−9 (69-69-70-71=279)	2 strokes	JoAnne Carner
1983	U.S. Women's Open	+6 (72-73-71-74=290)	1 stroke	JoAnne Carner, Patty Sheehan

Team appearances

Professional

Handa Cup (representing World team): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 (tie), 2013 (winners), 2015

References

1 2 3 4 5 Jan Stephenson at About.com
↑ "Jan Stephenson". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
↑ Markus, Don (26 May 2004). "Bridging the gap". ESPN. Retrieved 29 March 2013.

External links

Jan Stephenson at the LPGA Tour official site
Jan Stephenson at the ALPG Tour official site
Jan Stephenson at the Legends Tour official site
Jan Stephenson bio at about.com

Women's PGA Championship champions

1955‡ Beverly Hanson 1956 Marlene Hagge† 1957 Louise Suggs 1958‡ Mickey Wright 1959 Betsy Rawls 1960 Mickey Wright 1961‡ Mickey Wright 1962‡ Judy Kimball 1963 Mickey Wright 1964 Mary Mills 1965 Sandra Haynie 1966 Gloria Ehret 1967‡ Kathy Whitworth 1968‡ Sandra Post† 1969 Betsy Rawls 1970 Shirley Englehorn† 1971 Kathy Whitworth 1972 Kathy Ahern 1973 Mary Mills 1974 Sandra Haynie 1975 Kathy Whitworth 1976 Betty Burfeindt 1977 Hisako Higuchi 1978 Nancy Lopez 1979 Donna Caponi 1980 Sally Little 1981 Donna Caponi 1982‡ Jan Stephenson 1983 Patty Sheehan 1984 Patty Sheehan 1985‡ Nancy Lopez 1986 Pat Bradley 1987 Jane Geddes 1988 Sherri Turner 1989 Nancy Lopez 1990 Beth Daniel 1991 Meg Mallon 1992‡ Betsy King 1993 Patty Sheehan 1994 Laura Davies 1995 Kelly Robbins 1996 Laura Davies 1997 Christa Johnson† 1998‡ Se-ri Pak 1999 Juli Inkster 2000 Juli Inkster† 2001 Karrie Webb 2002 Se-ri Pak 2003 Annika Sörenstam† 2004 Annika Sörenstam 2005 Annika Sörenstam 2006 Se-ri Pak† 2007 Suzann Pettersen 2008 Yani Tseng† 2009 Anna Nordqvist 2010‡ Cristie Kerr 2011‡ Yani Tseng 2012 Shanshan Feng 2013 Inbee Park† 2014 Inbee Park† 2015 Inbee Park 2016 Brooke Henderson†

† event won in a playoff; ‡ event won wire-to-wire

U.S. Women's Open champions

1946 Patty Berg∞ 1947 Betty Jameson 1948 Babe Zaharias 1949 Louise Suggs 1950 Babe Zaharias 1951 Betsy Rawls 1952 Louise Suggs 1953 Betsy Rawls† 1954‡ Babe Zaharias 1955‡ Fay Crocker 1956 Kathy Cornelius† 1957 Betsy Rawls 1958‡ Mickey Wright 1959 Mickey Wright 1960 Betsy Rawls 1961 Mickey Wright 1962 Murle Lindstrom 1963‡ Mary Mills 1964 Mickey Wright† 1965 Carol Mann 1966 Sandra Spuzich 1967‡ Catherine LaCoste# 1968‡ Susie Berning 1969 Donna Caponi 1970‡ Donna Caponi 1971‡ JoAnne Carner 1972 Susie Berning 1973 Susie Berning 1974 Sandra Haynie 1975 Sandra Palmer 1976 JoAnne Carner† 1977 Hollis Stacy 1978 Hollis Stacy 1979 Jerilyn Britz 1980 Amy Alcott 1981 Pat Bradley 1982 Janet Alex 1983 Jan Stephenson 1984 Hollis Stacy 1985 Kathy Baker 1986 Jane Geddes† 1987 Laura Davies† 1988 Liselotte Neumann 1989 Betsy King 1990 Betsy King 1991 Meg Mallon 1992 Patty Sheehan† 1993 Lauri Merten 1994 Patty Sheehan 1995 Annika Sörenstam 1996 Annika Sörenstam 1997 Alison Nicholas 1998 Pak Se-ri† 1999 Juli Inkster 2000 Karrie Webb 2001 Karrie Webb 2002 Juli Inkster 2003 Hilary Lunke† 2004 Meg Mallon 2005 Birdie Kim 2006 Annika Sörenstam† 2007 Cristie Kerr 2008 Inbee Park 2009 Ji Eun-hee 2010 Paula Creamer 2011 Ryu So-yeon† 2012 Choi Na-yeon 2013 Inbee Park 2014 Michelle Wie 2015 Chun In-gee 2016 Brittany Lang†

† event won in a playoff; ‡ winner held lead wire-to-wire; # event won by an amateur; ∞ event won in match-play

Canadian Women's Open (Peter Jackson/du Maurier Classic) champions

1979 Amy Alcott 1980 Pat Bradley 1981 Jan Stephenson 1982 Sandra Haynie 1983 Hollis Stacy 1984 Juli Inkster 1985 Pat Bradley 1986 Pat Bradley† 1987 Jody Rosenthal 1988 Sally Little 1989 Tammie Green 1990 Cathy Johnston 1991 Nancy Scranton 1992 Sherri Steinhauer 1993 Brandie Burton† 1994 Martha Nause 1995 Jenny Lidback 1996 Laura Davies 1997 Colleen Walker 1998 Brandie Burton 1999 Karrie Webb 2000 Meg Mallon

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

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