Karrie Webb is the most successful women golfer that Australia has ever produced, and is arguably one of the best in the world.
When she burst onto the Ladies US PGA Tour in 1996 as a 21 year old rookie she took the world by storm. In the process she lifted the profile of the game around the world, but no where more than in Australia.
She earned a over 1 million dollars in her rookie year which was a record for any male or female rookie on the US tour.
Having to live up to those standards in 1997 would be a hard task for anyone - but Karrie just kept on making firsts.
Although she didn't reach the million dollar mark again, she finished with three victories and had 21 top ten finishes out of 25. She had the lowest score average for the year of any player of 70, which was a record for the tours history. Speaking of records, her 19 under par win at the British Open was yet another.
Her
amazing feats saw huge crowds being drawn to the Australian Ladies Masters
1996 and the years following. However, winning at home had been something
that she was unable to achieve.The most heart breaking was in the 1997 Australian Ladies Masters, when after having a seemingly unbeatable lead into the final round she lost to Scottish player Caterina Matthews. This was clearly devastating for Webb as she cried at the presentation ceremony.
However, 1998 was to make up for that loss. Again leading into the final round, Karrie had a huge lead, but this time she didn't relinquish it. As she strode up the 18th the huge gallery knew victory was hers and cheering was fantastic.
Karrie accepting
the Trophy for the 1998 Australian Ladies Masters. Yet again Webb was very emotional at the presentation ceremony - but this time for the right reasons.
She was world number one for a while at the beginning of 1998, but Swede Annika Sorrenstam regained the spot.
The future of women's golf in Australia looks bright. The prize money for the 1999 Australian Ladies Masters has been increased to make it the second richest golf tournament in Australia, only behind the men's Australian Masters. The success of Karrie Webb can probably be major contributor to this. The crowds have been huge and the television coverage has been great - so it looks like even bigger and better thing to come for this girl from Ayre in Queensland.
