Mickey Wright, one of the biggest players in women's golf, dies at 85

Wright spoke about a competitive fire that complemented that form.

"The big winners in golf – Hogan, Nicklaus, Jones, you might think of Tiger Woods – they were all great swingers, but their inner drive wasn't in the charts," she told. Sports Illustrated in 2000. Asked if she would include herself in that list, she answered: & # 39; Yes, I would.

Wright captured five straight Vare trophies for the lowest scoring average during the tour (1960 to 1964) and shot twice LPGA record rounds of 62. She was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1964 and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1976.

"She has revolutionized golf for us because she was so good and her swing was so perfect," Betsy Rawls, who won eight majors, told the AP in 2006. "Although we were competitors, she was a pleasure to watch."

Wright described her swing in the 1962 instruction (and reprinted) "Play Golf the Wright Way."

"I could hit it so well," she told The New York Times in a telephone interview in 2015. "I always said it was the second largest feeling in the world, a high 2-iron to a good enclosed green. "

Asked for the greatest feeling, she answered: "Winning."

Mary Kathryn Wright was born on February 14, 1935 in San Diego and was introduced to golf by her father, Arthur, a lawyer and a weekend player.

At the age of 14, immersed in golf lessons, she had begun to develop her swing, to keep her wrist bent as long as possible while addressing the ball and to stay away from an emphasis on arm movement, something that the most women of that time used, resulting in relatively short discs and iron games.