The Titleholders Championship was a women's golf tournament played from in 1937 to 1966 and again in 1972. It was later designated a major championship by the LPGA Tour.
History
The Titleholders Championship was founded in 1937. Like the Masters Tournament for men, which began a few years earlier, it was played in Augusta, Georgia, but at Augusta Country Club, not at the adjacent Augusta National Golf Club. The winners of various amateur and professional events were invited to take part, although most of the competitors were amateurs. There were very few women professionals at the time and most earned their living as club or teaching professionals.
The Titleholders itself did not offer prize money until 1948, when a prize fund of $600 was introduced, with half of the money going to the professional placing highest in the event. The tournament was discontinued after November 1966, but was revived for one year in 1972, when it was played in May at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. All of these stagings are now recognized as major championships by the LPGA, even though the organization was not founded until 1950.
Winners
{| class=wikitable
!Year!!Winner!!Country!!Score!!Runner(s)-up!!Winners'<br>share ($)!!Purse ($)!!Ref
|-
|1972 || Sandra Palmer || || 283 || Judy Rankin, Mickey Wright || align=right|3,000 || align=right|20,000 ||
|-
|align=center colspan=8|1967–1971: No tournament
|-
|1966 || Kathy Whitworth || || 291 || Judy Kimball-Simon, Mary Mills || align=right|1,500 || align=right|10,000 ||
|-
|1965 || Kathy Whitworth || || 287 || Peggy Wilson || align=right|1,500 || align=right|10,000 ||
|-
|1958 || Beverly Hanson || || 299 || Betty Dodd || align=right|1,000 || align=right|5,275 ||
|-
|1948 || Patty Berg || || 308 || Peggy Kirk (a), Babe Zaharias || || ||
|-
|1947 || Babe Zaharias (a) || || 304 || Dorothy Kirby (a) || align=right|300 || ||
|-
|1946 || Louise Suggs (a) || || 314 || Eileen Stulb (a) || || ||
|-
|align=center colspan=8|1943–1945: No tournament
|-
|1942 || Dorothy Kirby (a) || || 239^ || Eileen Stulb (a) || || ||
|-
|1941 || Dorothy Kirby (a) || || 224^ || Helen Sigel || || ||
|-
|1940 || Helen Hicks (a) || || 336 || Helen Dettweiler || || ||
|-
|1939 || Patty Berg (a) || || 319 || Dorothy Kirby (a) || || ||
|-
|1938 || Patty Berg (a) || || 311 || Jane Cothran (a) || || ||
|-
|1937 || Patty Berg (a) || || 240^ || Dorothy Kirby (a) || || ||
|}
(a) - denotes amateur<br>
<sup>PO</sup> - won in playoff<br>
^ - 54 holes
Multiple winners
This table lists the golfers who have won more than one Titleholders Championship.
{| class="wikitable"
| style="background:#DCDCDC;"|Deceased golfer †
|-
| style="background:#FFFFCC;"|Grand Slam winners ‡
|-
| style="background:#F5D0A9;"|Deceased Grand Slam winners ∞
|}
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Country
!Golfer
!Total
!Years
|-
|
|style="background:#DCDCDC;"|Patty Berg †
|align="center" valign="top"|7
|1937, 1938, 1939, 1948, 1953, 1955, 1957
|-
|
|style="background:#F5D0A9;"|Louise Suggs ∞
|align="center" valign="top"|4
|1946, 1954, 1956, 1959
|-
|
|style="background:#DCDCDC;"|Babe Zaharias †
|align="center" valign="top"|3
|1947, 1950, 1952
|-
|
|style="background:#DCDCDC;"|Dorothy Kirby †
|align="center" valign="top"|2
|1941, 1942
|-
|
|style="background:#FFFFCC;"|Mickey Wright ‡
|align="center" valign="top"|2
|1961, 1962
|-
|
|style="background:#DCDCDC;"|Marilynn Smith †
|align="center" valign="top"|2
|1963, 1964
|-
|
|Kathy Whitworth †
|align="center" valign="top"|2
|1965, 1966
|}
Winners by nationality
This table lists the total number of titles won by golfers of each nationality as a major.
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#efefef;"
!Nationality !!Number<br>of wins
|-
| ||align=center| 27
|-
| ||align=center|1
|}