Golfer Mickey Wright, a star in her amateur days, was trying to halt a slump a few years after turning pro. One day, a top rival and friend on the nascent Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour gave her career-changing advice: Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
Wright debuted on the LPGA in 1955 and finished 12th in money rankings that year. Yet she was falling short of winning any tournament she entered.
After a dismal finish at the St. Petersburg Open held near Tampa, Fla., in 1958, the San Diego native felt alone and vulnerable, "wallowing in self-pity," she wrote in her book, "Play Golf The Wright Way." Then came the frank feedback.
Mickey Wright: Find A Winning Turnaround
"You hit every golf shot yourself during this tournament," rival golfer Betsy Rawls told her. "No one else hit any of them for you, so accept the responsibility for every shot you hit."
"That was the most valuable golfing advice ever given me," Wright wrote. "'This is your own responsibility. Do as well as you can, but make no excuses for yourself.'"
Wright turned into a winning machine.
After that conversation, the tall, athletic woman prevailed in five tournaments the same year, including the U.S. Open and the LPGA Championship. No one had ever won both majors in the history of women's pro golf. Over a two-decade career, Wright captured 90 professional titles, including 82 LPGA tour wins. She lifted the winner's hardware in 13 major championships.
"Mickey Wright's influence in the game of golf has transcended generations," Anne Walker, Stanford University women's golf head coach, told IBD. Wright spent one season on the Stanford squad. "She was, and continues to be, admired and respected by both men and women for her iconic golf swing, immense physical skill, on-course grace and her competitive prowess," said Walker, who was named women's college golf coach of the year by Golfweek in June.
Aim For A Career Slam
Wright (1935-2020) captured four consecutive major titles from 1961 to 1962, according to the LPGA, which is marking its 75th anniversary this year.
On May 13, 1962, Wright won the Women's Western Open to achieve a career Grand Slam. She defeated Mary Lena Faulk on the fourth playoff hole at Montgomery Country Club in Montgomery, Ala., earning a $1,200 check. This followed victories at the 1958, 1960 and 1961 LPGA Championship, the 1958, 1959 and 1961 U.S. Women's Opens, and the 1961 and 1962 Titleholders Championships.
Nine years later, Wright entered the World Golf Hall of Fame. In 1999, the Associated Press named her Female Golfer Of The Century.
Tap Into Your Early Days
Mary Kathryn Wright, born on Valentine's Day in 1935, was three when her parents divorced. Both parents supported her passion for the game and pursuit of world-class achievement.
Wright's dad, a lawyer, was an average golfer in his daughter's eyes. He took young Mickey on the La Jolla Country Club course near San Diego. There, she loved to whack the ball as hard she could and hunt for the ball when it went out of bounds and into canyon hillsides.
She began taking lessons at age 11. Her first teacher, Johnny Bellante at La Jolla Country Club, also taught future pro golfer Gene Littler. Both students went on to win the U.S. Open in 1961. Besides having unlimited patience, Bellante taught Wright the keys to excellent rhythm and balance. Once, he had the student swing a pseudo-club fashioned from a eucalyptus branch. With branch in hands, Mickey learned to focus on smooth acceleration as she brought the club down and past her body.
In 1949, when she was 14, the San Gabriel Country Club pro saw Wright win the 1949 Southern California Junior Girls Tournament at the course. On the spot, pro golfer Harry Pressler offered to teach Wright without charge. When young Mickey called back and asked for help, Pressler drove straight to San Diego, had dinner with the family, then gave a four-hour lesson in their living room. Wright's mother then drove her every Saturday from San Diego to Los Angeles to train under Pressler.
Wright: Create Your Edge
Why do weekend hackers send balls hooking into the trees or slicing away from the fairway? Many fail to get the clubhead square at the point of contact with the ball. Wright's solution? After addressing the ball with the clubhead face in the right position, she made sure that at various points of the backswing, the clubhead remained at the correct angle. Thus, Wright reduced the number of errant shots, even under intense pressure.
Steven Vilts, a PGA-certified instructor at Los Angeles-based Rancho Park Golf Course, one of the most frequently played municipal golf courses in the U.S., noted Wright went beyond simply developing what she called the "square shooter technique." She worked on creative ways to sculpt a more fluid and powerful swing.
"She would set a ball underneath her feet and turn her right knee into her right side. She never got outside her right foot," Vilts, once named one of the "Top 100 Teachers In America" by Golf Magazine, told IBD. "Mickey went to a lot of places to find an answer, and when she did, it was something special."
Wright marketed a swing aid with Wilson Sporting Goods, her sponsor since 1957. Called the "Mickey Swing-Wright" armband, it prevented a golfer's right elbow from getting out of position — critical to generating power on the downswing before club meets ball.
Break Down A Tough Challenge
An accurate, consistent approach shot to the putting green is also critical to make low scores and win tournaments. No easy task when you're 100 yards away or further. Wright adopted a mental approach that minimized negative thinking after the approach shot. First, she visualized the green as made up of four quarters, then focused on the quarter in which the flag stood. This mental trick relieved pressure.
"If I am shooting at a 4-1/2 inch circle from 100 yards out ... I'm going to be pretty unhappy if I don't get close to that target," she wrote. "But, if I give myself a target the size of a quarter of the green with thousands of square inches to shoot at, I'm taking pressure off myself and allowing for a better shot."
Focus On Positive Psychology
The saying, "You drive for show but putt for dough" bears much truth. Like other pros, Wright experimented with various grips, stances, alignments and putting strokes. Over time she discovered the ultimate key: Eliminate a negative mindset.
"I don't talk myself out of as many putts as I used to," Wright wrote. "I used to stand over a six-foot putt and say, 'If I miss this, it gives me a double bogey and that'll put me six over par for a 78 and that puts me out of the money.' This is complete malignancy of the mind in putting. My overall rule now for a putt, once I am set up mentally and physically, is to block out everything else except the relation of myself to that clubhead."
Once on the green, Wright never looked back in regret when she gave up a lot of strokes.
"Ten feet or under, I'm always gunning for the cup. Outside of that range, I mentally increase the size of the cup. All I want to do is get (the ball) down (in the cup) in the regulation two (strokes for each hole). I never want to give myself a chance to say, 'You idiot, you're a terrible putter. This is going to be a terrible day of putting for you.'"
Wright garnered her final tour win at the Colgate Dinah Shore in 1973. Due to an eye condition, she retired at age 37. Wright died of a heart attack on Feb. 17, 2020, while being hospitalized for a fall.
Mickey Wright's Keys
- Won 82 LPGA Tour tournaments, second only to Kathy Whitworth, and 13 major championships. Inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1967 and World Golf Hall Of Fame in 1976.
- Overcame: self-doubt and a negative attitude toward failure.
- Lesson: "Do as well as you can, but make no excuses for yourself. I know of no better golden rule for a golfer."
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