Nancy Lopez: 1957—: Golfer

Hall-of-Fame golfer Nancy Lopez, who began playing golf at an early age, has won numerous championships including the LPGA Championship. Lopez has received many awards and is known for her phenomenal early rise to fame. Her enduring skill on the course, and her open and friendly demeanor has garnered her many fans across the nation.

An Early Success

Lopez, who grew up in Roswell, New Mexico, began playing golf at the age of eight, with her father, Domingo Lopez, an avid golfer, as her coach. Four years later, when she was twelve, she won the New Mexico Women's Amateur tournament. Lopez told Richard Lemon in People Weekly, "I was so scared I always threw up. I carried a trash can with me. My dad told me, 'If you're going to play golf, you've got to get over being sick.' I didn't want to quit, so I decided to get over it."

Lopez also faced other obstacles to her progress. Because her family was of Mexican descent, her parents were not allowed to join the Roswell country club and she had to play in Albuquerque, 200 miles away. A writer for Latino Sports Legends commented that her intense competitive drive and "the fact that she was a Mexican-American winning so many tournaments did not sit well with others, but that didn't discourage her."

In 1972 and 1974 Lopez won the USGA Junior Girls Championship. In 1975 she won the Western Junior three times, as well as the Mexican Amateur. Her high school did not have a girls' golf team, so she played on the boys' team and helped them win two state championships.

Lopez attended the University of Tulsa for two years in 1976 and 1977; during her time there, she won the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women National Championship and was a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup and World Amateur teams. In 1976 she was named 1976 All-American and also won the university's Female Athlete of the Year award. After two years at the university, Lopez decided to leave to pursue a professional golf career. Although her career was an instant success, her mother died from a heart attack before ever seeing Lopez win a professional tournament. Lopez's father encouraged her to continue playing despite this tragedy.

Became Professional Golfer

In 1977 Lopez tied for second place at the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur; that same year, she was named LPGA Rookie of the Year. Although she turned pro later that year, her official LPGA rookie season was 1978. In that first season, Lopez won an astonishing five tournaments in a row and was the LPGA Champion. She told Mechelle Voepel in the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, "It just happened so easily; it seemed like everything I did was right. It was just a year that was magical for me." Lopez won against major players of the day, including Hall of Famers JoAnne Carner and Kathy Whitworth, veterans Jan Blalock and Donna Caponi, as well as younger players Pat Bradley, Hollis Stacy, Jan Stephenson and Amy Alcott. She told Voepel, "I did feel like I was in contention every week. I wasn't afraid to be aggressive; I wasn't really afraid of anything at that time." She also told Voepel, "I was just playing because I loved it. But I think now I can look back at that and say, 'Boy, did I have a great year and it was something that people will always remember.'"

In addition to being noted for her talent, Lopez quickly attracted the attention of fans, who appreciated her friendly demeanor. Lopez told Voepel that when she was fifteen, she had attended a men's pro tournament, where she hoped to get an autograph from a well-known player. She and another fan were waiting in line when the player snarled, "I don't have time for this," and walked away. Lopez vowed that if she ever became a pro, she would never act like that. It's a vow she has kept throughout her career.

Lopez met her first husband, sportscaster Tim Melton, in June of 1978, at the end of her phenomenal 1978 winning-streak. They married shortly afterwards and she continued to play well, winning eight of the nineteen tournaments she entered. However, her marriage to Melton was stressful, partly because of her long absences from home to play in tournaments and partly because, as she told Richard Lemon in People Weekly, "We just grew apart," and in 1981 they divorced. At the same time, her game had been also been deteriorating. Although she won a dozen championships from 1980 through 1984, Lopez felt flat. She told Frank Deford in Sports Illustrated, "Suddenly, I couldn't hit the ball where I wanted to, and I'd been able to do that since I was twelve. There were times when every day I'd go back to the hotel crying."

Won Her Third LPGA Championship

After her divorce, Lopez began dating baseball player Ray Knight, whom she married in October of 1982. Their harmonious relationship led her to tell Bruce Newman in Sports Illustrated, "I think if professional athletes were all married to other professional athletes, it would make for better marriages. Athletes are better suited to each other." Her second marriage was more harmonious than her first, and Lopez and Knight eventually had three daughters.

In 1985, the second year she won the LPGA Championship, Lopez was named Golf Magazine's Player of the Year. Lopez told Deford that her new family life had contributed to the improvement in her game: "Maybe I'm playing so well again just because I'm happy. More than anything else, it's probably because now I have peace of mind, so I can just go off and play golf." In 1989 Lopez won the LPGA Championship for a third time and was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

The 1990s were difficult for Lopez, who did not win from 1994 to 1996. In April of 1997 she began playing well again again, and in that year she had her lowest stroke average (70.70) since 1989. At the U.S. Women's Open, Lopez came in as runner-up for the fourth time in her career. Typically, fans did not ask why she had come in second; Lopez told Voepel that instead, they said, "Oh, we loved watching you play!" and noted, "It sounded like I won, basically, because people were so supportive." Golf star Laura Davies commented, "Nancy is obviously the most popular player that's ever been in our game." In 1997 Lopez was given a Hispanic Heritage Award for her contributions to Hispanic culture.

Experienced Health Problems

In the late 1990s Lopez began experiencing severe pain in her knees, partly as a result of overuse, and partly from arthritis. She underwent surgery, physical therapy, and began using a knee brace during play, According to Leonard Shapiro in the Washington Post, Lopez said her knees were often stiff in the morning, but after she walked for a while, they loosened up. She played in a limited number of events in 1990 after undergoing knee surgery.

In 2000 her play was limited because she underwent gall bladder surgery. Her season-best finish was a tie for ninth place. In recent months, Lopez has worked to promote public awareness of arthritis, as well as cardiovascular disease, which runs in her family. She, and other golfers, play against each other to raise money for the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association. In addition, through changes in her own diet and exercise habits, she has reduced her own risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In 2001 Lopez and Knight opened Ashbrook Quail Preserve, a 600-acre tract of land in southwest Georgia that offers hunting and fishing tours for eight guests at a time. The preserve has a lodge, cabin, three stocked fishing ponds, hunting dogs, horses, and vehicles; Lopez, who loves to cook, plans to assist in the kitchen of the lodge.

Sources

Periodicals

Golf Magazine, December, 1985, p. 49.

Golf World, October 5, 2001, p. 36; November 9, 2001, p. NA.

Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, May 13, 1998, p. 513K6710.

People Weekly, April 25, 1983, p. 85.

Sports Illustrated, June 10, 1985, p. 56; August 5, 1985, p. 58; August 4, 1986, p. 34; February 9, 1987, p. 84.

Time for Kids, October 3, 1997, p. 8.

Washington Post, June 3, 1999, p. D06.

On-line

Latino Sports Legends, www.latinosportslegends.com

LPGA, www.lpga.com

—Kelly Winters