Considered the best sportswoman in history, Babe Zaharias was born in 1914 in Texas - as Mildred Didrikson. The daughter of Norwegian immigrants (her father was a seaman), she shone in various sports, not only golf. In 1932 she competed in the Los Angeles Olympic Games, winning three gold medals and establishing three new world records in speed and resistance.
Throughout her life she stood out in 20 sports, receiving her nickname, Babe, while playing baseball (in honour of baseball great Babe Ruth) – a sport which provided her with a living, together with basketball. She was voted best sportswoman of the year five times.
Babe’s enthusiasm for golf came late, at 18, though once she began the sport she played almost without rest. She won her first title two years later, in 1935. However, because of her earnings in baseball and basketball, her status as an amateur golfer was revoked. She didn’t consider herself a golf professional, so didn’t compete on the Tour. In 1940, she participated in the Western Open, which she won four times. Between 1946 and 1947 she won 17 consecutive amateur events, including the US Women’s Amateur and British Ladies Amateur. She turned professional in 1949 and was number one on the Tour five years running. She won 31 professional titles, including three US Women Opens.
The 1945 Los Angeles Open wasn’t her first appearance in a men’s Tour event: in 1938 she had competed in the same tournament, simply by filling in the entry form.
Even though she didn’t pass the cut, she considered her 1938 performance a successful experience, and not only in a sporting sense, because it was there that she met George Zaharias, a professional wrestler who also played golf. Like her, he failed to make the cut and they spent the weekend together. Months later they were married.
Babe was diagnosed with cancer in 1951, at 36 years of age. She continued to play golf till 1955 and died one year later, at 42. Her death made headlines around the world: the best sportswoman in history had died.
