Angela Stanford Shoots For Rare Three-Peat

By: Steve Eubanks

HURRICANE, UT – It’s a busy time, especially with uniforms, sponsorships, appearances and interview requests coming in daily. For Angela Stanford, being the U.S. Solheim Cup captain is a dream come true, and not a day passes when she isn’t thinking about the matches next September in The Netherlands. But there are those moments – like this week in Hurricane, Utah – when the seven-time LPGA Tour winner and major champion dusts off her unmistakable swing, steps inside the ropes, and, for a brief instant, the juices flow, time stops, and we are all young again. 

This week, Stanford is looking for that rarest of feats in sports: a “three-peat,” three consecutive victories at the LPGA Legends Championship. In fact, three consecutive championship wins is so exceptional that the word “three-peat” didn’t exist until 1988 when former Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley coined and trademarked it. 

It’s only happened five times in major championship golf and only twice this century. In the men’s game, Willie Anderson won three straight U.S. Open titles from 1903 to 1905, and Walter Hagan won three consecutive PGA Championships in the 1920s. The last man to accomplish a major three-peat was the late Peter Thomson, who won three consecutive Open Championships from 1954 through 1956. 

In the women’s game, only Annika Sorenstam and Inbee Park have won the same major three times in a row, both capturing the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship thrice in order. 

LPGA Legends only have a couple of events that would qualify for “major” distinction: the U.S. Senior Women’s Open and the LPGA Legends Championship, being held for the second straight year at the Copper Rock Golf Course, just a few minutes away from Zion National Park. 

Stanford loves the scenery. You could almost walk to the location where “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was filmed. But she also loves the thump in her chest and the tingle in her cheeks when she’s in contention on Sunday. That’s what she’s hoping to have again this week.     

“It would be special,” she said of the idea of a threepeat. “I was telling a friend at home before I left, the only time that I really did anything like this was as a junior. I was a four-time champion of the Fort Worth City tournament, and other than that, I’m not even sure if I defended anywhere along the way. So, it’s difficult. Defending is difficult, but then three is really difficult for every reason you can think of.” 

Of Copper Rock and Hurricane, Stanford said, “It’s nice to come back to the same venue. The first year to the second year were different venues, so, yeah, to be back out here and not feel like I need to run out there and see all 18 (is nice). And I think everybody really likes us here, so it always feels good to come back. 

“You can tell when they really like having you. It’s every little detail. And then when they see you, they light up, they welcome you. And (the area) is beautiful. But the people here have really wrapped their arms around us. I think the players respond to that. They want to do more. They want to go to the Pro-Am party. It’s stuff we all do, but when you feel like you’re getting the love back… It’s a really special place.” 

And there’s no better spot to go for the rarest of feats. Stanford hopes to enjoy the views and engage with the crowds. But in the end, she wants to etch her name in the history books alongside some of the game’s most iconic players. 

“I’m just grateful that I have the opportunity,” Stanford said. “I’m grateful I’ve stayed healthy. I’m still in a position that I can come out and play, so yeah, just really grateful for the opportunity to try to do this.”