Zaharias, one of the game’s great athletes, was instrumental in attracting early fanfare to the LPGA. Zaharias had the kind of game that allowed her to fit in on the PGA Tour, too, and in 1935, she played the Cascades Open. Zaharias missed the cut, but it started an 11-year stint during which she teed it up a handful of times with the men (becoming the first woman to do so).
Zaharias missed the cut at the 1938 Los Angeles Open (now known as the Genesis Invitational), but she played the event again in 1945 and did one better, making the 36-hole cut but missing a second cut to play the final round. She also played the Tucson Open and the Phoenix Open that year and teed it up again at the 1946 Los Angeles Open.