Judy Rankin (née Torluemke; born February 18, 1945) is an American professional golfer and golf broadcaster. A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, she joined the LPGA Tour in 1962 at age 17 and won 26 tour events.
From 2010 through 2022, Rankin served as the lead analyst for LPGA Tour telecasts on the Golf Channel. She previously served as an expert analyst for golf coverage on ESPN and ABC.[1]
Amateur career
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Rankin won the Missouri Amateur at age 14 in 1959. The next year she was the low amateur at the U.S. Women's Open,[2] and was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1961 at age 16.[3] She turned pro the following year.[4][5]
Professional career
Rankin's first LPGA Tour win came in 1968 and she won 26 events, topping the money list in 1976 and 1977. She finished in the top ten on the money list eleven times between 1965 and 1979, and was the first to win over $100,000 in a season on the LPGA Tour (over $150,000 in 1976).[6]
Rankin was LPGA Player of the Year twice (1976, 1977) and won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average three times. She retired from full-time competition at age 38 in 1983 due to chronic back problems,[9] and later captained the victorious Solheim Cup teams in 1996 and 1998. Rankin became the first player voted into the LPGA TourHall of Fame in 2000 under the veterans category,[9][10] and she was also inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000.
From 1984[12] until 2018,[13] Rankin worked as a golf commentator for ESPN and ABC. In 2010, she became the lead LPGA analyst for the Golf Channel.[1]
She has also been a professional advisor for the magazines Golf Digest and Golf For Women.
In 2024, she became the first woman to be awarded the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.[14]
Personal life
Rankin was known as Judy Torluemke (pronounced Tor-lum-kee),[3] until her marriage to Walter "Yippy" Rankin in 1967. They lived in Midland, Texas and have a son, Walter Jr., known as "Tuey," born in 1968.[15] After a battle with throat cancer, Yippy died at age 71 on February 24, 2012.[16][17] Tuey's wife is the sister-in-law of PGA Tour golfer Geoff Ogilvy.[18][19]
Rankin was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2006.[20] She completed treatment by August 2006 and returned to her on-air work on ABC Sports in time to cover the 2006 Women's British Open.
