Jan Stephenson

Jan Stephenson
Jan Stephenson
Personal information
Full name	Jan Lynn Stephenson
Born	22 December 1951 (age 72); Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Sporting nationality	Australia
Residence	New Port Richey, Florida, US
Career
College	Hales College
Turned professional	1973
Former tour(s)	LPGA Tour (joined 1974); ALPG Tour (joined 1973)
Professional wins	27
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	16
Ladies European Tour	1
LPGA of Japan Tour	2
ALPG Tour	2
Other	6
Best results in LPGA major championships; (wins: 3)
Chevron Championship	2nd: 1985
Women's PGA C'ship	Won: 1982
U.S. Women's Open	Won: 1983
du Maurier Classic	Won: 1981
Women's British Open	DNP
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame
World Golf Hall of Fame	2019 (member page)
LPGA Tour; Rookie of the Year	1974

Jan Lynn Stephenson (born 22 December 1951) 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 (10) LPGA Legends Tour wins and 8 worldwide major championships. She has 15 holes-in-one with nine in competition. She was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, class of 2019.^[1]

Early life and amateur career

Stephenson was born on 22 December 1951 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.

Professional career

Stephenson turned professional in 1973 and won the Wills Australian Ladies Open that year. She joined the LPGA Tour in 1974 and was named LPGA Rookie of the Year.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

Stephenson was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.^[3] 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 (Jan Stephenson's Crossroads 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 recognised for her philanthropic work by the Government of Australia and other charitable organisations. 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 (OAM) ‘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 (LPGA) Tour",^[4] 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.^[5] She later apologised, saying that she "did not intend to make it a racial issue."^[6]

Professional wins (27)

LPGA Tour (16)

Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (3)
Other LPGA Tour (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	8 Feb 1976	Sarah Coventry Naples Classic	+2 (73-69-76=218)	1 stroke	Sandra Haynie Judy Meister
2	25 Apr 1976	Birmingham Classic	−13 (65-70-68=203)	4 strokes	Kathy Martin
3	8 May 1978	Women's International	−5 (68-72-69-74=283)	4 strokes	Beth Daniel (a)
4	2 Mar 1980	Sun City Classic	−13 (66-71-67-71=275)	1 stroke	M.J. Smith
5	5 Jul 1981	Peter Jackson Classic	−10 (69-66-70-73=278)	1 stroke	Pat Bradley Nancy Lopez
6	16 Aug 1981	Mary Kay Classic	−18 (65-69-64=198)	11 strokes	Sandra Haynie
7	13 Sep 1981	United Virginia Bank Classic	−14 (66-71-68=205)	3 strokes	Janet Alex Sally Little
8	13 Jun 1982	LPGA Championship	−9 (69-69-70-71=279)	2 strokes	JoAnne Carner
9	20 Jun 1982	Lady Keystone Open	−5 (71-71-69=211)	1 stroke	Barbara Moxness Alexandra Reinhardt
10	27 Feb 1983	Tucson Conquistadores LPGA Open	−9 (72-68-67=207)	5 strokes	Amy Alcott
11	19 Jun 1983	Lady Keystone Open	−11 (69-67-69=205)	1 stroke	Pat Bradley
12	31 Jul 1983	U.S. Women's Open	+6 (72-73-71-74=290)	1 stroke	JoAnne Carner Patty Sheehan
13	24 Mar 1985	GNA Classic	+2 (70-73-72-75=290)	1 stroke	Amy Alcott Pat Bradley Barbara Moxness
14	19 Apr 1987	Santa Barbara Open	−1 (74-68-73=215)	1 stroke	Jane Geddes Ayako Okamoto
15	20 Sep 1987	Safeco Classic	−11 (68-70-71-68=277)	1 stroke	Nancy Lopez
16	27 Sep 1987	Konica San Jose Classic	−11 (69-71-65=205)	5 strokes	Amy Alcott

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1979	Women's Kemper Open	Donna Caponi JoAnne Carner Chako Higuchi Nancy Lopez	Carner won with par on second extra hole Caponi, Lopez, and Stephenson eliminated by par on first hole
2	1981	Inamori Classic	Amy Alcott Donna Caponi Hollis Stacy	Stacy won with birdie on first extra hole
3	1986	Mayflower Classic	Christa Johnson Sandra Palmer	Palmer won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1999	Firstar LPGA Classic	Becky Iverson Rosie Jones	Jones won with par on fourth extra hole Stephenson eliminated by par on first hole

ALPG Tour (2)

1973 (1) Wills Australian Ladies Open
1977 (1) Wills Qantas Australian Ladies Open

Ladies European Tour (1)

1985 (1) Hennessy Cognac Ladies Cup

LPGA of Japan Tour (2)

1981 (1) World Ladies
1985 (1) Nichirei Ladies Cup

Legends Tour (4)

2000 HyVee Classic
2005 BJ's Charity Championship (with Cindy Rarick; tie with Pat Bradley and Patty Sheehan)
2007 Handa Australia Cup
2021 BJ's Charity Championship (with Laura Diaz)

Other (2)

1983 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Fred Couples)
1990 JCPenney/LPGA Skins Game

Major championships

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1981	Peter Jackson Classic	−10 (69-66-70-73=278)	1 stroke	Pat Bradley, Nancy Lopez-Melton
1982	LPGA Championship	−9 (69-69-70-71=279)	2 strokes	JoAnne Carner
1983	U.S. Women's Open	+6 (72-73-71-74=290)	1 stroke	JoAnne Carner, Patty Sheehan

Team appearances

Amateur

Tasman Cup (representing Australia): 1970 (winners)

Professional

Handa Cup (representing World team): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 (tie), 2013 (winners), 2015

References

^ "World Golf Hall of Fame introduces the Class of 2019: Peggy Kirk Bell, Retief Goosen, Billy Payne, Jan Stephenson and Dennis Walters to be enshrined into the World Golf Hall of Fame on June 10, 2019 in Pebble Beach". PGA Tour. 10 October 2018. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Kelley, Brent. "Jan Stephenson Brought Glam to 1980s LPGA Tour". about.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
^ "Jan Stephenson". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
^ "Stephenson Asians Killing Tour". Golf Channel. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^ "Jan Stephenson, the LPGA's original siren, is still making waves". 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
^ Markus, Don (26 May 2004). "Bridging the gap". ESPN. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 29 March 2013.

External links

Jan Stephenson at the LPGA Tour official site
Jan Stephenson at the Legends Tour official site (also at former site)
Jan Stephenson at the WPGA Tour Australasia official site
Jan Stephenson at the ALPG Tour official site (archived)

[1] "World Golf Hall of Fame introduces the Class of 2019: Peggy Kirk Bell, Retief Goosen, Billy Payne, Jan Stephenson and Dennis Walters to be enshrined into the World Golf Hall of Fame on June 10, 2019 in Pebble Beach". PGA Tour. 10 October 2018. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2018.

[about-2] Kelley, Brent. "Jan Stephenson Brought Glam to 1980s LPGA Tour". about.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2007.

[3] "Jan Stephenson". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.

[4] "Stephenson Asians Killing Tour". Golf Channel. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

[5] "Jan Stephenson, the LPGA's original siren, is still making waves". 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.

[6] Markus, Don (26 May 2004). "Bridging the gap". ESPN. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 29 March 2013.

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