Patty Berg died on April 26, 2006, in Fort Myers, Florida, at the age of 88, after battling cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
Patty Berg died on April 26, 2006, in Fort Myers, Florida, at the age of 88. In her later years she had suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had also battled cancer multiple times throughout her life, having survived several bouts including a serious diagnosis in the 1970s that she famously fought through while continuing to compete and promote the game she loved.
Her death marked the passing of one of the true founding figures of women's professional golf. Tributes poured in from across the golf world, honoring her as a trailblazer whose competitive brilliance—winning a record 15 major championships—was matched only by her tireless work as an ambassador for the sport, having reportedly given exhibitions and clinics in all fifty U.S. states and internationally, often numbering in the thousands over her lifetime.
Obituaries, including one published in The Guardian, recalled her as a co-founder of the LPGA and its first president, a World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, and a woman whose charm, humor, and relentless promotional energy helped legitimize and popularize women's golf during decades when female professional athletes received little institutional support or public respect.
Her legacy lives on through the annual Patty Berg Award, given by the LPGA to honor contributions to women's golf, and through the continued growth of the LPGA Tour she helped establish over half a century earlier.