According to Golf Channel on Thursday, Australian women’s golf legend Jan Stephenson of Sydney, Australia has been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 71. This is stage three breast cancer, and as a result, Stephenson will undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy in the next two weeks.
Stephenson won 16 times on the LPGA Tour, and was a three-time major champion. She won the 1981 Peter Jackson Classic (Canadian Women’s Open and later known as the du Maurier Classic) at the Summerlea Golf Club in Port Perry, Ontario, the 1982 LPGA Championship (later known as the Women’s PGA Championship) at the Jack Nicklas Golf Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the 1983 United States Women’s Open at the Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
At the Peter Jackson Classic, Stephenson was the third golfer to win the Canadian Women’s Open when the event was considered a major. She followed Americans Amy Alcott and Pat Bradley. When Stephenson won the 1982 LPGA Championship, she was the wire-to-wire leader. At the 1983 United States Women’s Open, Stephenson was victorious with a four-round score of +6.
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This is the second consecutive day we reported about Stephenson. Just yesterday we discussed her as one of two non-American major winners to win the JC Penney Classic. She accomplished the feat with Fred Couples in 1983. In December of this year, the PGA and LPGA Tour will have a mixed gender event for the first time since 1999.
Stephenson meanwhile is one of three high profile female athletes to be diagnosed with cancer over the last 13 months. She follows tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
