Quick Facts
Biography
Fay Crocker (2 August 1914 – 16 September 1983) was a Uruguayan professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. In her career, she won 11 LPGA tournaments, including two major championships, the 1955 U.S. Women's Open and 1960 Titleholders Championship. Crocker was the oldest player to win her first LPGA event, the first U.S. Women's Open champion from outside the United States, and the oldest women's major champion.
Biography
Crocker was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1914. Her father Frederick was a rancher. Also a golfer, he was a 27-time national champion in Uruguay. Crocker's mother, Helen, was a national champion in multiple sports, playing tennis and golf. She was a 6-time Uruguayan golf champion. Fay Crocker began playing golf at the age of six and became an accomplished player in South America, claiming her home country's national title on 20 occasions and Argentina's championship another 14. Crocker traveled to the United States to compete in the U.S. Women's Amateur as early as 1939. After bowing out of the match-play event in the third round, she did not play in the tournament again for 11 years; in 1950, she advanced to the fourth round before losing to Mae Murray in 27 holes, nine more than the regulation 18. At the time, it was the longest playoff in a women's match-play event organized by the United States Golf Association. Crocker became a professional golfer when she was 39 years old, in 1954.
In Crocker's 19th professional tournament, the 1955 Serbin Open, she won for the first time. At the age of 40, she is the oldest player to win for the first time on the LPGA Tour event as of 2013. Later in 1955, Crocker posted a seven-stroke victory in the Wolverine Open. At the Women's Western Open, she started the final round one stroke out of the lead and finished tied for second, two strokes behind winner Patty Berg. Crocker added to her two previous wins in 1955 by claiming a victory in the U.S. Women's Open. In a tournament that featured 45-mile-per-hour wind gusts, Crocker was the only player to finish in under 300 strokes; her final score of 299 was four strokes ahead of runners-up Louise Suggs and Mary Lena Faulk. The win made Crocker the first U.S. Women's Open champion from a country other than the United States. At the end of the season, Golf Digest named Crocker the Most Improved Female Professional Golfer.
In 1956, Crocker again won the Serbin Open (also known as the Miami Beach Open), and added a victory at the St. Louis Open. Crocker won two tournaments in 1957: her third straight Serbin Open and the Triangle Round Robin. At the 1958 LPGA Championship, she finished as the runner-up, six strokes behind winner Mickey Wright. That year, she won the Havana Biltmore Open and Waterloo Open.
Crocker won two events early in the 1960 season, beginning with the Lake Worth Open. Then, in March 1960, she claimed a victory in the Titleholders Championship; her four-round score of 303 was seven strokes ahead of the closest competitor, Kathy Cornelius. Crocker was 45 years old when she won the Titleholders; as of 2013, she is the oldest major champion in LPGA Tour history. Having competed in almost all LPGA events in the six-year stretch from 1955 to 1960, Crocker is credited with 11 official tour wins. She stopped playing on the LPGA Tour in 1961, having amassed $73,410 in earnings, which placed her among the top 10 in the LPGA's career money list at the time of her retirement. After her retirement, Crocker moved to Argentina, where she resided for most of her life after professional golf. In 1983, when Crocker was 69 years old, she died.
Professional wins
LPGA Tour wins
- 1955 Serbin Open, Wolverine Open, U.S. Women's Open
- 1956 Serbin Open, St. Louis Open
- 1957 Serbin Open, Triangle Round Robin
- 1958 Havana Biltmore Open, Waterloo Open
- 1960 Lake Worth Open, Titleholders Championship
Other wins
- 1957 Hot Springs 4-Ball (with Marilynn Smith)
Major championships
Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | U.S. Women's Open | +11 (74-72-79-74=299) | 4 strokes |  Mary Lena Faulk, Louise Suggs |
| 1960 | Titleholders Championship | +15 (75-75-77-76=303) | 7 strokes | Kathy Cornelius |