A sportswriter once wrote after watching her play:
Above average height but not abnormally tall and of slender build, the “Babe” moved like a ballerina, as thought she did not have a bone in her body.
wait-once loaded--swings above never stop
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5'7"
126 lbs
Beaumont, Texas
US Women's Open Champion 1948, 1950, 1954
US Women’s Amateur 1946
British Ladies 1947
(1911-1956)
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wait-once loaded--swings above never stop
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"I just loosen my girdle and let the ball have it"
--Babe Zaharias
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from
Mickey Wright LPGA:
IN 1954 , while still an amateur, I was paired the final 36 holes of the U.S. Women's Open with Babe Zaharias. I was 19 and scared out of my boots. Can you imagine suddenly competing against the greatest athlete of all time? Babe was larger than life, almost like something from another planet. She was coming back from surgery a year earlier for colon cancer but still was phenomenally athletic. Her arms and legs had a muscular quality I had never seen before. She was a showman and completely owned the galleries. On one hole she called her husband, George, over to shield her while she removed her girdle. I was naive and blushed when she did that, but Babe thought nothing of it. She showed it to the gallery and said, "Just watch me hit it now." She was rough and tumble, competitive, and kind. And my, could she play. She's often remembered as a long hitter, and maybe it was true before I saw her, but at that U.S. Open it was her short game that stood out. She won that championship by 12 strokes. I finished tied for fourth, 17 strokes back. It seems like such a privilege to have seen her play close-up. Only two years later, she was gone.
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"They say golf came easy to me because I was a good athlete, but there's not any girl on the LPGA Tour who worked near as hard as I did in golf. It is the toughest game I ever tackled."
--Babe Zaharias
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After looking at her move from back-swing to forward- swing, Sam Snead said "you can see how she will SMASH the ball".
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To players practicing before a tournament:
"I don't know why you're practicing so hard to finish second."
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Babe won three gold medals in the 1932 Olympics, setting a world record in the low hurdles.
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"My main idea in any kind of competition always has been to go out there and cut loose with everything I've got. I've never been afraid to go up against anything. I've always had the confidence that I was capable of winning out." -- Babe
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Mildred, called "Baby" in her early years, was always competitive, interested in sports, and eager to play boys' games with her brothers. After hitting five home runs in one baseball game, "Baby" became "Babe" (Babe Ruth was then in his heyday), a nickname that remained with her for the rest of her life.
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