1992 was Dottie Pepper’s year, and even the Rolex point system was able to figure that one out. Her four victories included the Kraft Nabisco Championship, she was the leading money winner, and she won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. Pepper (formerly Dottie Mochrie) was a fixture in the Top 10 throughout the 1990s although this would unfortunately be her only POY award. In case you were wondering, Dottie has only 21 Hall of Fame points – 17 victories, 2 majors, 1 POY and 1 Vare – but I think she deserves extra credit for helping make the Solheim Cup the hotly contested event it is today as well as being the current undisputed voice of women’s golf.
The Top 30 Players of 1992 are:
1. Dottie Pepper
2. Betsy King
3. Patty Sheehan
4. Danielle Ammaccapane
5. Nancy Lopez
6. Brandie Burton
7. Meg Mallon
8. Juli Inkster
9. Sherri Steinhauer
10. Colleen Walker
11. Judy Dickenson
12. Ayako Okamoto
13. Pat Bradley
14. Beth Daniel
15. Donna Andrews
16. Michelle McGann
17. Dana Dormann
18. Rosie Jones
19. Helen Alfredsson
20. Deb Richard
21. Dawn Coe-Jones
22. Missie Berteotti
23. Jane Geddes
24. Florence Descampe
25. Nancy Scranton
26. Liselotte Neumann
27. JoAnne Carner
28. Alice Ritzman
29. Barb Mucha
30. Tammie Green
Player of the Year – Dottie Pepper
Rookie of the Year – Helen Alfredsson
Fluke Victory of the Year – Jennifer Wyatt
The other ’92 majors were won by Betsy King (LPGA), Patty Sheehan (US Open) and Sherri Steinhauer (du Maurier). Helen Alfredsson was a landslide Rookie of the Year choice, easily beating out Kelly Robbins and Michele Redman. Helen was the middle winner in a trifecta of Swedish ROYs over a seven year span (Neumann ’88, Sorenstam ’94). Does anybody remember seeing any “Sweden is ruining the LPGA” articles during that time?
I’ve made at least a couple of not-so-nice comments about the Ammaccapane sisters, but there’s nothing bad you can say about Danielle’s 1992 season. Three victories, third place on the money list – her #4 ranking here is way better than her next-best showings of #18 in 1993 and #19 (with two victories) in 1998. If fact, she still has her exempt status because of those seasons. Danielle has one year left on the Top 40 career money list exemption that she received prior to 2007.
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2 comments:
Just a little correction...Patty Sheehan won the US Open in an 18 hole play-off over Juli Inkster just across the river from me in Oakmont in '92. Unfortunately I was unemployed that summer and couldn't afford to attend. Betsy King won the Mazda LPGA Championship, becoming the first LPGA player to record four rounds in the 60's in a major (68-66-67-66). Keep up the great work.
Corrected. Thanks for the copy-edit!
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