Jan Stephenson


Jan Lynn Stephenson is an Australian professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974 and won three major championships and 16 LPGA Tour events. She has 41 worldwide victories including LPGA Legends Tour wins and 8 worldwide major championships. She has 15 holes-in-one with in competition. She was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, class of 2019.

Career

Stephenson was born in Sydney. While a teenager, she won five consecutive New South Wales Schoolgirl Championships in Australia, beginning in 1964, and followed that up with three straight wins in the New South Wales Junior Championship. She turned professional in 1973 and won the Wills Australian Ladies Open that year. Stephenson joined the LPGA Tour in 1974 and was named LPGA Rookie of the Year.
Stephenson's first LPGA victory was the 1976 Sarah Coventry Naples Classic. Her most productive period was the early 1980s, when she won all of her majors in consecutive years: 1981 Peter Jackson Classic, the 1982 LPGA Championship and the 1983 U.S. Women's Open.
Stephenson was one of the first LPGA stars to openly embrace and champion a sex-sells approach to marketing. Stephenson became as famous for her sex appeal as her golf during the early to mid-1980s, when she posed in a bathtub – covered up only by the golf balls filling the tub – and later in a pinup calendar. She urged the LPGA Tour to fully embrace her approach to marketing.
On the golf course, Stephenson won three times each in 1981, 1983 and 1987, those wins in 1987 being her final ones on the LPGA. Stephenson continued playing LPGA events throughout the 1990s, but was hampered by an injury incurred during a mugging in Miami in 1990. Her left ring finger was broken in two places, an injury that still bothers her play in cold or wet weather.
Stephenson went on to win on the Women's Senior Golf Tour, a tour she helped found. In 2003, she became the first woman to play on the Champions Tour at the Turtle Bay Championship, where she finished in last place. Stephenson is among the few women in the course design business, and produced an exercise video for people with arthritis. Her many charitable efforts include being an honorary chairman of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Stephenson was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985. She was a contestant in the 2011 season of Dancing with the Stars on Channel Seven.
Stephenson is an Ambassador for blind and disabled golf through ISPS Handa and has acquired Tarpon Woods Golf Club in Palm Harbor through her Foundation www.jscrossroads.com. The golf course provides initiatives for blind/disabled and wounded veterans and first responders. Her mission is, "Giving to Those that have Given so Much". She has been recognized for her philanthropic work by the Government of Australia and other charitable organizations. She was awarded recognition by the Military Order of the Purple Heart in October 2017 for her service to combat wounded/disabled/blind veterans and first responders. Her Foundation was awarded the Charity of the Year by the Palm Harbor Chamber of Commerce in September 2018.
In the 2018 Australia Day Honours, Stephenson was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia ‘for service to golf, and to not-for-profit organisations’.

Controversy

Stephenson made a controversial remark in 2003 when she said "Asians are killing the Tour", referring to the large number of Korean-born players who were winning on tour, and calling for quotas on international players - although she was also an international player she believed that the LPGA should focus on American players. She later apologised, saying that she "did not intend to make it a racial issue."

Professional wins (26)

LPGA Tour (16)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
18 Feb 1976Sarah Coventry Naples Classic+2 1 stroke Sandra Haynie
Judy Meister
225 Apr 1976Birmingham Classic−13 4 strokes Kathy Martin
38 May 1978Women's International−5 4 strokes Beth Daniel
42 Mar 1980Sun City Classic−13 1 stroke M.J. Smith
55 Jul 1981Peter Jackson Classic−10 1 stroke Pat Bradley
Nancy Lopez
616 Aug 1981Mary Kay Classic−18 11 strokes Sandra Haynie
713 Sep 1981United Virginia Bank Classic−14 3 strokes Janet Alex
Sally Little
813 Jun 1982LPGA Championship−9 2 strokes JoAnne Carner
920 Jun 1982Lady Keystone Open−5 1 stroke Barbara Moxness
Alexandra Reinhardt
1027 Feb 1983Tucson Conquistadores LPGA Open−9 5 strokes Amy Alcott
1119 Jun 1983Lady Keystone Open−11 1 stroke Pat Bradley
1231 Jul 1983U.S. Women's Open+6 1 stroke JoAnne Carner
Patty Sheehan
1324 Mar 1985GNA Classic+2 1 stroke Amy Alcott
Pat Bradley
Barbara Moxness
1419 Apr 1987Santa Barbara Open−1 1 stroke Jane Geddes
Ayako Okamoto
1520 Sep 1987Safeco Classic−11 1 stroke Nancy Lopez
1627 Sep 1987Konica San Jose Classic−11 5 strokes Amy Alcott

LPGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11979Women's Kemper Open Donna Caponi
JoAnne Carner
Chako Higuchi
Nancy Lopez		Carner won with par on second extra hole
Caponi, Lopez, and Stephenson eliminated with par on first hole
21981Inamori Classic Amy Alcott
Donna Caponi
Hollis Stacy		Stacy won with birdie on first extra hole
31986Mayflower Classic Christa Johnson
Sandra Palmer		Palmer won with birdie on first extra hole
41999Firstar LPGA Classic Becky Iverson
Rosie Jones		Jones won with par on fourth extra hole
Stephenson eliminated with par on first hole

ALPG Tour (2)

Wins (3)

Team appearances

Professional