Carol Mann holds her trophies after winning the USGA Women’s Open Golf Championship at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, N.J. in this July 4, 1965, file photo.
Carol Mann, a two-time major champion who won 38 LPGA Tour titles, has died. She was 77.
The LPGA Tour issued a statement Monday that Ms. Mann had died Sunday at her home in The Woodlands, Tex. LPGA Tour officials said a family member notified them of Ms. Mann’s death.
Her major titles were the 1964 Women’s Western Open Invitational and the 1965 U.S. Women’s Open. She won 10 tournaments in 1968.
Ms. Mann also served as LPGA president from 1973-76. She was an analyst for men’s and women’s golf on ABC, ESPN and NBC.
Ms. Mann was inducted into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977.
LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan says Ms. Mann has been “part of the fabric of the LPGA for more than 55 years, with a Hall of Fame career both on and off the golf course.”
She was president of Carol Mann Golf Services, the first woman-owned and operated course-design and management firm. It was based in Houston.
Ms. Mann grew up in Baltimore and Chicago. She took up golf at 9, attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and joined the LPGA Tour in 1961.
Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam tweeted that Ms. Mann was a “great ambassador” of the game and she felt “honoured to have known Carol and shared stories and laughs together.”
Speaking to The Globe and Mail in 2002 about Ms. Sorenstam’s bright prospects, Ms. Mann reflected on the emotional challenges of being a top player on the LPGA Tour.
“Winning so much can take a toll,” Ms. Mann said. “The experience for me was incredibly satisfying as far as my playing goes, but it became hollow because I was so immature. I remember in Toronto, after I’d won a tournament, I went back to my hotel and started crying. Unless you have this great soul and are real serene, it can be very hard.”