GREAT AMERICAN TOURING PROFESSIONAL – JULI INKSTER

Very few professional golfers can defy Father Time, but the LPGA’s Juli Inkster seems to have pulled off the feat.  Now 51 years old, the Hall of Famer just finished competing in the Solheim Cup for the ninth time.  A 7-time major champion and winner of 31 LPGA events, it seems that she can compete successfully for a few more years if she chooses.   The former Juli Simpson won three consecutive US Women’s Amateurs from 1980-82.  She turned professional the following year and won an event that year, and in 1984 was named LPGA Rookie of the Year.  To date, her last LPGA Tour victory was in 2006, although it would surprise no one if she were to win again.   Inkster is renowned for not only her golf prowess, but her devotion to family.  She married golf professional Brian Inkster in 1982, and they have two daughters, Hayley, 21, and Cory, 17.  In fact, Inkster was once quoted as saying, “I love my job, but my family has always been No. 1.”  Had she been totally devoted to golf, most assuredly she would have an even greater professional record, but Inkster wouldn’t have it any other way.  She and her husband currently reside in Los Alto, California.