Donna Caponi

Donna Caponi
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Donna Caponi-Byrnes
Born	(1945-01-29) January 29, 1945 Detroit, Michigan
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Tampa, Florida
Spouse	Ken Young (1971–81) Ted Byrnes (2006–)
Career
Turned professional	1965
Former tour(s)	LPGA Tour (joined 1965)
Professional wins	29
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	24
Other	5
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 4)
Western Open	21st: 1967
Titleholders C'ship	12th: 1966
ANA Inspiration	T13: 1985
Women's PGA C'ship	Won: 1979, 1981
U.S. Women's Open	Won: 1969, 1970
du Maurier Classic	3rd: 1980, 1982
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2001 (member page)
GWAA Female Player of the Year	1981
PGA First Lady of Golf Award^[1]	2010

Donna Caponi-Byrnes (born January 29, 1945) is an American LPGA Tour professional golfer. She became a member of the tour in 1965 and won four major championships and 24 LPGA Tour career events. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Amateur career

Caponi was born in Detroit, Michigan. She started playing golf at the age of 5. She learned golf from her father, Harry, and won the Los Angeles Junior title in 1956. She tied for 21st as an amateur at the 1964 Hillside House Ladies' Open on the LPGA Tour.

Professional career

Caponi joined the LPGA Tour in 1965. She won her first tournament in 1969 at the U.S. Women's Open. She is one of 14 players to make the U.S. Women’s Open her first LPGA victory. She would repeat as champion in 1970. Only Mickey Wright had ever won back-to-back U.S. Women's Opens before Caponi, who also matched Wright's 72-hole scoring record of 287. She would go on to win a total of 24 events on the LPGA Tour, including four major championships.

Caponi was named Female Player of the Year by Golf Writers Association of America in 1981. She finished in the top ten on the money list ten times between 1968 and 1981, including second-place finishes in 1976 and 1980. She retired from full-time competition in 1988. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2009, she was the recipient of the PGA First Lady of Golf Award.^[1]

She is currently an announcer on the Golf Channel, covering the Champions Tour.

Personal life

From 1971 to 1981, Caponi was married to Ken Young and was known as Donna Caponi Young. After her divorce in 1981, she changed her name back to Donna Caponi.^[2] She married her longtime boyfriend Edward "Ted" Byrnes on July 29, 2006, and changed her name to Donna Caponi-Byrnes.

Professional wins (29)

LPGA Tour wins (24)

Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (4)
Other LPGA Tour (20)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jun 29, 1969	U.S. Women's Open	+2 (74-75-76-69=294)	1 stroke	Peggy Wilson
2	Sep 21, 1969	Lincoln-Mercury Open	−2 (74-68-72=214)	Playoff	Kathy Whitworth
3	May 24, 1970	Bluegrass Invitational	−2 (72-70-72=214)	1 stroke	Mary Mills
4	Jul 5, 1970	U.S. Women's Open	+3 (69-70-71-77=287)	1 stroke	Sandra Haynie Sandra Spuzich
5	May 20, 1973	Bluegrass Invitational	−3 (72-72-72=216)	2 strokes	Sandra Spuzich
6	Feb 2, 1975	Burdine's Invitational	−8 (70-71-67=208)	3 strokes	Kathy Cornelius
7	May 11, 1975	Lady Tara Classic	−5 (72-70-72=214)	1 stroke	Gloria Ehret Sandra Post
8	Jun 13, 1976	Peter Jackson Classic	−4 (72-73-67=212)	Playoff	Judy Rankin
9	Sep 19, 1976	Portland Classic	−2 (72-71-74=217)	Playoff	Clifford Ann Creed
10	Sep 26, 1976	The Carlton	−6 (69-69-72-72=282)	5 strokes	Jane Blalock Judy Rankin
11	Nov 3, 1976	LPGA/Japan Mizuno Classic	−5 (74-71-72=217)	4 strokes	Chako Higuchi
12	Sep 17, 1978	The Sarah Coventry	−10 (72-71-68-71=282)	5 strokes	Jane Blalock
13	Oct 22, 1978	Houston Exchange Clubs Classic	−9 (70-68-69=207)	3 strokes	Alexandra Reinhardt
14	Jun 10, 1979	LPGA Championship	−9 (69-70-70-70=279)	3 strokes	Jerilyn Britz
15	Mar 23, 1980	LPGA National Pro-Am	−2 (71-74-71-70=286)	1 stroke	Nancy Lopez
16	Apr 6, 1980	Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle	−13 (71-67-66-71=275)	2 storkes	Amy Alcott
17	May 25, 1980	Corning Classic	−7 (66-72-69-74=281)	2 strokes	Myra Blackwelder
18	Sep 14, 1980	United Virginia Bank Classic	−11 (70-67-66-74=277)	4 strokes	Nancy Lopez
19	Sep 21, 1980	ERA Real Estate Classic	−9 (75-68-71-69=283)	5 strokes	Shelley Hamlin
20	Mar 22, 1981	LPGA Desert Inn Pro-Am	−3 (74-75-69-68=286)	3 strokes	Pat Bradley
21	Apr 12, 1981	American Defender/WRAL Golf Classic	−8 (71-65-72=208)	1 stroke	Cathy Sherk
22	Jun 14, 1981	LPGA Championship	−8 (69-68-70-73=280)	1 stroke	Jerilyn Britz Pat Meyers
23	Jul 19, 1981	WUI Classic	−6 (71-69-69-73=282)	2 strokes	Julie Pyne
24	Aug 2, 1981	Boston Five Classic	−12 (69-68-68-71=276)	6 strokes	Jan Stephenson

Note: Caponi won the Peter Jackson Classic (which became the du Maurier Classic) and the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle (now known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship) before they became major championships.

LPGA Tour playoff record (3–5)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1969	Lincoln-Mercury Open	Kathy Whitworth	Won with par on first extra hole
2	1974	Lady Tara Classic	Sandra Spuzich Kathy Whitworth	Spuzich won with par on fifth extra hole Whitworth eliminated with par on third hole
3	1976	Peter Jackson Classic	Judy Rankin	Won with par on first extra hole
4	1976	Portland Classic	Clifford Ann Creed	Won with birdie on second extra hole
5	1979	Women's Kemper Open	JoAnne Carner Chako Higuchi Nancy Lopez Jan Stephenson	Carner won with par on second extra hole Caponi, Lopez, and Stephenson eliminated with par on first hole
6	1980	West Virginia LPGA Classic	Sandra Post	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
7	1981	Florida Lady Citrus	Beth Daniel Cindy Hill Patti Rizzo Patty Sheehan	Daniel won with birdie on second extra hole Hill, Rizzo, and Sheehan eliminated with par on first hole
8	1981	Inamori Classic	Amy Alcott Hollis Stacy Jan Stephenson	Stacy won with birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (5)

1975 Colgate European Open
1976 Wills Qantas Australian Ladies Open
1978 Ping Classic Team Championship (with Kathy Whitworth)
1980 Portland Ping Team Championship (with Kathy Whitworth)
1981 Portland Ping Team Championship (with Kathy Whitworth)

Major championships

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1969	U.S. Women's Open	+2 (74-76-75-69=294)	1 stroke	Peggy Wilson
1970	U.S. Women's Open	+3 (69-70-71-77=287)	1 stroke	Sandra Haynie, Sandra Spuzich
1979	LPGA Championship	−9 (69-70-70-70=279)	3 strokes	Jerilyn Britz
1981	LPGA Championship	−8 (69-68-70-73=280)	1 stroke	Jerilyn Britz, Pat Meyers

References

1 2 Ferncroft Country Club, Ferncroft CC Member Donna Caponi-Byrnes Receives PGA First Lady of Golf Award Accessed November 23, 2011.
↑ NY Times News Service, Donna Caponi starting over again August 24, 1981. Accessed November 23, 2011.

External links

Donna Caponi at the LPGA Tour official site
Donna Caponi at the Legends Tour official site
Donna Caponi bio

Women's PGA Championship champions

1955‡ Beverly Hanson 1956 Marlene Hagge† 1957 Louise Suggs 1958‡ Mickey Wright 1959 Betsy Rawls 1960 Mickey Wright 1961‡ Mickey Wright 1962‡ Judy Kimball 1963 Mickey Wright 1964 Mary Mills 1965 Sandra Haynie 1966 Gloria Ehret 1967‡ Kathy Whitworth 1968‡ Sandra Post† 1969 Betsy Rawls 1970 Shirley Englehorn† 1971 Kathy Whitworth 1972 Kathy Ahern 1973 Mary Mills 1974 Sandra Haynie 1975 Kathy Whitworth 1976 Betty Burfeindt 1977 Hisako Higuchi 1978 Nancy Lopez 1979 Donna Caponi 1980 Sally Little 1981 Donna Caponi 1982‡ Jan Stephenson 1983 Patty Sheehan 1984 Patty Sheehan 1985‡ Nancy Lopez 1986 Pat Bradley 1987 Jane Geddes 1988 Sherri Turner 1989 Nancy Lopez 1990 Beth Daniel 1991 Meg Mallon 1992‡ Betsy King 1993 Patty Sheehan 1994 Laura Davies 1995 Kelly Robbins 1996 Laura Davies 1997 Christa Johnson† 1998‡ Se-ri Pak 1999 Juli Inkster 2000 Juli Inkster† 2001 Karrie Webb 2002 Se-ri Pak 2003 Annika Sörenstam† 2004 Annika Sörenstam 2005 Annika Sörenstam 2006 Se-ri Pak† 2007 Suzann Pettersen 2008 Yani Tseng† 2009 Anna Nordqvist 2010‡ Cristie Kerr 2011‡ Yani Tseng 2012 Shanshan Feng 2013 Inbee Park† 2014 Inbee Park† 2015 Inbee Park 2016 Brooke Henderson†

† event won in a playoff; ‡ event won wire-to-wire

U.S. Women's Open champions

1946 Patty Berg∞ 1947 Betty Jameson 1948 Babe Zaharias 1949 Louise Suggs 1950 Babe Zaharias 1951 Betsy Rawls 1952 Louise Suggs 1953 Betsy Rawls† 1954‡ Babe Zaharias 1955‡ Fay Crocker 1956 Kathy Cornelius† 1957 Betsy Rawls 1958‡ Mickey Wright 1959 Mickey Wright 1960 Betsy Rawls 1961 Mickey Wright 1962 Murle Lindstrom 1963‡ Mary Mills 1964 Mickey Wright† 1965 Carol Mann 1966 Sandra Spuzich 1967‡ Catherine LaCoste# 1968‡ Susie Berning 1969 Donna Caponi 1970‡ Donna Caponi 1971‡ JoAnne Carner 1972 Susie Berning 1973 Susie Berning 1974 Sandra Haynie 1975 Sandra Palmer 1976 JoAnne Carner† 1977 Hollis Stacy 1978 Hollis Stacy 1979 Jerilyn Britz 1980 Amy Alcott 1981 Pat Bradley 1982 Janet Alex 1983 Jan Stephenson 1984 Hollis Stacy 1985 Kathy Baker 1986 Jane Geddes† 1987 Laura Davies† 1988 Liselotte Neumann 1989 Betsy King 1990 Betsy King 1991 Meg Mallon 1992 Patty Sheehan† 1993 Lauri Merten 1994 Patty Sheehan 1995 Annika Sörenstam 1996 Annika Sörenstam 1997 Alison Nicholas 1998 Pak Se-ri† 1999 Juli Inkster 2000 Karrie Webb 2001 Karrie Webb 2002 Juli Inkster 2003 Hilary Lunke† 2004 Meg Mallon 2005 Birdie Kim 2006 Annika Sörenstam† 2007 Cristie Kerr 2008 Inbee Park 2009 Ji Eun-hee 2010 Paula Creamer 2011 Ryu So-yeon† 2012 Choi Na-yeon 2013 Inbee Park 2014 Michelle Wie 2015 Chun In-gee 2016 Brittany Lang†

† event won in a playoff; ‡ winner held lead wire-to-wire; # event won by an amateur; ∞ event won in match-play

United States Solheim Cup team – 2005

Paula Creamer Beth Daniel Laura Diaz Natalie Gulbis Pat Hurst Juli Inkster Rosie Jones Cristie Kerr Christina Kim Meg Mallon Michele Redman Wendy Ward Donna Caponi (non-playing assistant captain) Nancy Lopez (non-playing captain)

Won: 15.5 – 12.5

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