Dottie Pepper (born August 17, 1965) is an American professional golfer and television golf broadcaster. From 1988 to 1995 she competed as Dottie Mochrie, which was her married name before a divorce. She won two major championships and 17 LPGA Tour events in all.

Dottie Pepper
Personal information
Born (1965-08-17) August 17, 1965 (age 59)
Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S.
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceSaratoga Springs, New York, U.S.
Career
CollegeFurman University
Turned professional1988
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour (1988–2004)
Professional wins25
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour17
LPGA of Japan Tour1
Epson Tour1
Other6
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 2)
Chevron ChampionshipWon: 1992, 1999
Women's PGA C'shipT5: 1992
U.S. Women's Open3rd/T3: 1988, 1990, 2001
du Maurier Classic4th: 1993
Women's British OpenT24: 2003
Achievements and awards
LPGA Tour
Money Winner
1992
LPGA Tour
Player of the Year
1992
LPGA Vare Trophy1992
GWAA Female
Player of the Year
1992
Best Female Golfer
ESPY Award
1993
GWAA William D.
Richardson Award
2016
New York State Golf
Assoc. Hall of Fame
2018
Old Tom Morris Award2024

Amateur career

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Pepper was born in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her father, Don, was a major league baseball player, who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a "rookie to watch", along with Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, in 1968. Her career began with big amateur victories in her home state of New York. She won the 1981 state amateur and the 1981 and 1983 New York Junior Amateur titles. She was a member of the 1981 Junior World Cup team and low amateur at the 1984 U.S. Women's Open. She attended Furman University, where she earned five collegiate victories and was named All-American three times.

Professional career

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Pepper joined the LPGA Tour in 1988 and won 17 official events on the Tour, including two major championships: the 1992 and 1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore. Her 19-under-par finish in the 1999 victory still stands as the lowest score in relation to par in a major championship. She topped the money list in 1992 and finished in the top ten in ten of eleven seasons between 1991 and 2001. Pepper also played for the United States in the Solheim Cup six times.

Due to injury problems, Pepper played only one tournament in 2002. In July 2004 she announced that she would retire at the end of the season. In 2005, she began work as a golf commentator for NBC and The Golf Channel, reporting on both men's and women's events.

During the 2007 Solheim Cup, Pepper caused some stir while working as commentator for the Golf Channel. She called the American team "choking freaking dogs". She thought the network had cut to commercial when the comment was uttered, but it was actually still broadcasting live. Some players and fans were upset by this and Pepper quickly apologized for her "poor choice of words".[1]

In July 2012 Pepper was named by captain Meg Mallon as one of two assistant captains for the U.S. Team at the 2013 Solheim Cup.[2]

Pepper retired from commentating in December 2012, tired of the traveling and wanting to spend more time promoting junior golf as a PGA of America board member.[3] In May 2013, she signed a contract with ESPN to return to commentating on a limited basis, working mainly major tournaments on the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours.[4] In October 2015, Pepper was signed to a contract with CBS, replacing David Feherty who had left the network to work for NBC and to continue his Feherty series on the Golf Channel. She took up Feherty's role as on-course reporter as well as doing occasional tower announcing.[5]

Pepper served as a member of the PGA of America Board of Directors from 2012 to 2015, and the NENY PGA Board of Directors from 2009 to 2015. She was the recipient of the 2016 William D. Richardson Award, presented by the Golf Writers Association of America for her consistently outstanding contributions to golf. She is also a 2018 inductee to the New York State Golf Association Hall of Fame.[6] The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America awarded Pepper with its highest honor, the Old Tom Morris Award, in 2024, for her continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf, and helping mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris.[7]

Personal life

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Pepper resides in Saratoga Springs, New York with her third husband, golf writer and historian David Normoyle. They were married in May 2010.[8]

Professional wins (25)

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LPGA Tour wins (17)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 29, 1989 Oldsmobile LPGA Classic −9 (69-74-67-69=279) Playoff   Beth Daniel
2 May 13, 1990 Crestar Classic −16 (67-65-68=200) 9 strokes   Chris Johnson
3 Mar 29, 1992 Nabisco Dinah Shore −9 (69-71-70-69=279) Playoff   Juli Inkster
4 Apr 19, 1992 Sega Women's Championship −11 (70-69-68-70=277) 1 stroke   Danielle Ammaccapane
5 Aug 2, 1992 Welch's Classic −10 (72-67-69-70=278) 3 strokes   Stephanie Farwig
6 Aug 30, 1992 Sun-Times Challenge Even (71-72-73=216) Playoff   Beth Daniel
  Judy Dickinson
7 Oct 19, 1993 World Championship of Women's Golf −4 (72-71-69-72=284) 1 stroke   Donna Andrews
  Meg Mallon
  Michelle McGann
  Sherri Steinhauer
8 Mar 5, 1994 Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions −1 (72-75-71-69=287) 2 strokes   Nancy Lopez
  Lauri Merten
9 Mar 12, 1995 PING/Welch's Championship (Tucson) −10 (70-68-72-68=278) 3 strokes   Cindy Rarick
  Annika Sörenstam
10 Aug 6, 1995 McCall's LPGA Classic −12 (69-67-68=204) 3 strokes   Kelly Robbins
11 Jun 23, 1996 Rochester International −10 (69-66-71=206) 2 strokes   Annika Sörenstam
12 Jun 30, 1996 ShopRite LPGA Classic −11 (67-66-69=202) 4 strokes   Amy Benz
13 Jul 21, 1996 Friendly's Classic −9 (68-69-73-69=279) 1 stroke   Brandie Burton
14 Sep 8, 1996 Safeway LPGA Golf Championship −14 (65-70-67=202) 2 strokes   Chris Johnson
15 Mar 28, 1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore −19 (70-66-67-66=269) 6 strokes   Meg Mallon
16 Aug 29, 1999 Oldsmobile Classic −18 (67-63-70-70=270) 2 strokes   Kelli Kuehne
17 Nov 19, 2000 Arch Wireless Championship −9 (68-71-69-71=279) 3 strokes   Rachel Hetherington

LPGA Tour playoff record (3–5)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1989 Oldsmobile LPGA Classic   Beth Daniel Won with par on fifth extra hole
2 1992 Nabisco Dinah Shore   Juli Inkster Won with par on first extra hole
3 1992 Sun-Times Challenge   Beth Daniel
  Judy Dickinson
Pepper won with par on sixth extra hole
Daniel eliminated by par on fourth hole
4 1993 PING/Welch's Championship (Massachusetts)   Missie Berteotti Lost to birdie on fifth extra hole
5 1993 State Farm Rail Classic   Helen Dobson Lost to birdie on fifth extra hole
6 1995 Pinewild Women's Championship   Rosie Jones Lost to birdie on first extra hole
7 1998 Star Bank LPGA Classic   Meg Mallon Lost to par on first extra hole
8 2000 AFLAC Champions   Karrie Webb Lost to par on first extra hole

LPGA majors are shown in bold.

Futures Tour wins (1)

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  • 1985 Albany-Colonie Chamber Open (as an amateur)

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

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Other wins (6)

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Major championships

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Wins (2)

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Year Championship Winning score Margin Runner-up
1992 Nabisco Dinah Shore −9 (69-71-70-69=279) Playoff 1   Juli Inkster
1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore −19 (70-66-67-66=269) 6 strokes   Meg Mallon

1 Defeated Inkster with par on first extra hole.

Results timeline

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Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Kraft Nabisco Championship T7 T66
LPGA Championship T45 T39
U.S. Women's Open T22 T55 78 T12 T3 T5
du Maurier Classic T35 T18
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Kraft Nabisco Championship T11 2 1 T30 T19 T11 T23 T11 T9 1 2
LPGA Championship T53 T22 T5 T30 T11 T6 T26 T37 CUT T19 T23
U.S. Women's Open T3 T5 T6 T17 T12 T13 CUT T14 T11 T14 WD
du Maurier Classic T27 T6 T20 4 T14 T12 T27 T14 T34
Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004
Kraft Nabisco Championship T2 T51 T24
LPGA Championship T17 T67 T70
U.S. Women's Open 3 WD WD
Women's British Open ^ CUT T24

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary

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  • Starts – 65
  • Wins – 2
  • 2nd-place finishes – 3
  • 3rd-place finishes – 3
  • Top 3 finishes – 8
  • Top 5 finishes – 12
  • Top 10 finishes – 17
  • Top 25 finishes – 42
  • Missed cuts – 6
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 38
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 5

Team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

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Year Total
matches
Total
W-L-H
Points
won
Points
%
Career 20 13–5–2 14 70%
1990 3 2–1–0 2 67%
1992 3 0–2–1 0.5 17%
1994 3 3–0–0 3 100%
1996 4 3–1–0 3 75%
1998 4 4–0–0 4 100%
2000 3 1–1–1 1.5 50%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pells, Eddie. "Pepper Adds Spice to Solheim Cup". newsvine. Associated Press. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  2. ^ DiMeglio, Steve (July 4, 2012). "Dottie Pepper named assistant captain for Solheim Cup". USA Today. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  3. ^ "Dottie Pepper moves on from TV golf". USA Today. Associated Press. December 18, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  4. ^ "Dottie Pepper returns to TV on ESPN". ESPN. May 15, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  5. ^ Porter, Kyle (October 14, 2015). "Dottie Pepper hired to cover golf for CBS in 2016". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  6. ^ "About Dottie Pepper". www.dottiepepper.net. 2018.
  7. ^ "Dottie Pepper to receive GCSAA's Old Tom Morris Award". www.gcsaa.org. November 14, 2023.
  8. ^ Dougherty, Pete (June 30, 2010). "Pepper back home in Saratoga". The Albany Times Union. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
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