The Babe cruised to a 12-stroke victory despite colon cancer surgery a year earlier. Wright, with her classic but strong swing, played respectably with The Babe, sharing fourth place.
Mickey, winner of the 1952 U.S. Girls’ Junior title, turned professional for the 1955 season at the tender age of 19. She tired of match play events and the annual cost of playing amateur golfer.
With blond hair and wide, winning smile, she announced her intentions to become a professional golfer in grand style. “I’m going to win,” she said. “I’m going to be the best woman golfer in the world someday.”
For 17 years, she dominated women’s golf, winning one out of every four LPGA events she entered. She won four U.S. Opens, tying Betsy Rawls for most Open trophies.
Wright accomplished in 1961 and 1962 a feat that only Tiger Woods would accomplish on the men’s side: She held all the major titles at one time.
(The majors, at that time, consisted of the Women’s Open, the LPGA Championship, the Women’s Western Open and the Titleholders, an event played at Pine Needles years later.)
Wright won 82 titles as a professional, a record total for her era.
Mickey was not incredibly strong, but she was imaginative on the course and had, arguably, the best golf swing that ever belonged to a professional — man or woman. She was not “The Babe,” who bore awesome power and who charmed every gallery before her.
Wright hit high, arching shots that allowed her to hit even the longest shots to greens over water hazards or bunkers.
On the course, Wright was reserved and gained gallery respect via her shotmaking and her smile.
Her father was a lawyer and served a time as president of the California bar. Mickey attended Stanford University and developed a keen and varied intellect. She managed her own portfolio very well while also visiting art galleries after tournament rounds. She may have favored Impressionist artists.
Mickey would be called the best woman golfer ever, but that was in her future in 1955. And the Women’s Open title eluded her early in her career. Wright finished 17th in 1955, courtesy of poor first and last rounds. She was ninth the next year, hurt by a second-round 80. She tied for 22nd in 1957, shooting three rounds in the 80s, 23 shots from the lead and nine shots out of the money. (The USGA paid the top dozen professionals at that time.)
The 1958 Open was set for Forest Lake Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Wright opened with a one-over-par 74 but stood only one ahead of Louise Suggs and Betty Jameson, both past champions. Mickey’s second-day 72 gave her a three-shot margin over Suggs but only one over Fay Crocker, who shot the championship’s best round, 68.
Wright cleared the decks Saturday morning with a third-round 70 for a 216 total, three under par. She was seven ahead of Crocker and eight ahead of Suggs.
All that was left for the afternoon final round was an attempt to set a USGA Women’s Open scoring record. The mark was 291, established by “The Babe” in that championship in which Mickey played the final two rounds with Zaharias.
Wright shot a closing 74 for 290 at Forest Lake CC and set a record she would break again the next year at Churchill Valley Country Club in Pittsburgh. Suggs made a game of the last round with 71 to take second place, five shots out. Crocker closed with 74 and took third place, seven behind Wright.
Mickey won $1,800 from a total purse of $7,200. Over time, money would become less important to Wright. She seemed to be driven not by a desire to compete against others but by her ability to perform, making her the ideal stroke-play competitor.
She retired from professional golf twice. Her first “quit” came in 1965 as she planned a return to college, but she was back playing again within a year, lured by money and pleas from tournament and tour organizers.
Injuries produced a more certain retirement in 1971, although she ventured out for an occasional event. For example, in 1973, she was lured to play the money-rich Colgate-Dinah Shore championship in Palm Springs.
Wright was an acceptable four shots out of the lead going into the last round. She had not played the tour regularly for more than two years, so a collapse would have been anticipated. She shot a final-round 68, dropping a 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole. She won another major title, this one by two strokes.
Seven years later, again in “retirement,” Wright played in regular tour event in New Jersey and tied for the lead at the end of regulation play. She lost in a five-way play-off. As she did in other events in the late 1970s, she wore sneakers because of a foot ailment.
Next: Lacoste’s 1967 breakthrough.
