Athletes

Nancy Lopez is the recipient of the Billie Jean Contribution Award. One of the most influential women in sports and culture over the past quarter century and a 48-time winner on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, Lopez retired from the game of golf in 2002. In 2000, she was recognized as one of the LPGA's top 50 players and teachers during the LPGA's 50th anniversary. That season she played in a limited number of events due to surgery, but finished the season with a tie for ninth at The Office Depot; the Chick-fil-A charity championship. In 1999, she also missed some events because of surgery. Lopez's best finish during the 1998 campaign was a tie for second at the Sara Lee Classic. In 1997, she placed second at the U.S. Women's Open - making her the only woman in U.S. Women's Open history to shoot four rounds in the 60s. During the 1995 season she posted nine top-20 finishes, including a season best third place at the Youngstown-Warren LPGA Classic - an event she had won two years prior. In the course of competing, she was honored with the Flo Hyman Award from the Women's Sports Foundation in 1992. In 1990, Lopez became the second player in LPGA history to cross the $3 million mark in career earnings when she captured the MBS LPGA Classic. She enjoyed her most successful financial season in 1989, earning $487,153 and registered three victories, including the Mazda LPGA Championship. That same year Lopez was inducted into the PGA World Golf Hall of Fame. She was honored as Golfer of the Decade by GOLF Magazine for the years of 1978-'87, during the Centennial of Golf in America celebration in 1988. Lopez marked her 35th career victory at the 1987 Sarasota Classic - the same event in which she claimed her first career win in 1978). This event qualified her for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, becoming the 11th member. She was named Female Player of the Year by the Golf Writers Association of America (1985, 1979, 1978).In 1977, two days prior to the summer LPGA final qualifying tournament, Lopez competed in the U.S. Women's Open as a professional and finished second for the second time in her career. She qualified for the Tour by finishing third at the tournament to earn exempt status.After qualifying for the LPGA Tour, she posted two additional second-place finishes in her first two starts as an LPGA professional.While attending the University of Tulsa, Lopez was named a 1976 All-American and the university's female athlete of the year. In 1975, she entered the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur and finished in a tie for second. At age 12, she won the New Mexico Women's Amateur, and in the following years, won the USGA Junior Girls Championship twice (1974, 1972). The next year, she claimed the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championship and was a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup and World Amateur teams. (10/03)