Staff WriterIf you’ve spent any time near a leaderboard in the past four decades, chances are you’ve seen the name Trish Johnson.
Born in Bristol in 1966 and now newly minted as an MBE, Johnson’s name has become synonymous with resilience, grit, and a golf swing as timeless as a well-aged claret.
Long before she became a fixture on fairways around the world, Trish Johnson was busy racking up amateur titles like it was going out of fashion.
In the early ’80s, she dominated the Southwestern amateur circuit, winning the regional championship in both 1983 and 1984.
By 1985, she’d firmly established herself as a force in English golf, sweeping the board with victories in the English Women’s Amateur Championship, the Stroke Play Championship, and yet another England Under-23 title – just in case the message hadn’t been received.
The following year, she took her talents global, representing Great Britain & Ireland in the 1986 Espirito Santo Trophy and the Curtis Cup, where she won maximum points – because of course she did.
March 1987 saw Johnson turn professional, and like a duck to water or a Scot to linksland, she immediately flourished.
Three victories in her debut year earned her Rookie of the Year honours on the Ladies European Tour.
By 1990, she was lifting the Order of Merit after four more wins, setting the tone for a career that would deliver a staggering 19 titles on the LET.
In fact, Johnson finished in the top ten of the LET Order of Merit an eye-watering 13 times.
Not one to rest on laurels, she continued to win well into the 2000s, with notable victories like the 2007 BMW Ladies Italian Open.
And just to keep her passport busy, she also picked up three LPGA Tour titles, including the Las Vegas LPGA in 1993 – a win as cool as the neon lights themselves.
And then there’s the Solheim Cup. Johnson wasn’t just a participant; she was a perennial competitor, teeing it up for Europe an impressive eight times between 1990 and 2007.
She even joined forces with Dame Laura Davies at the 2007 Women’s World Cup of Golf, a duo with more swagger than a Fleet Street pub on a Friday night.
But golf, like life, has chapters. And in her senior years, Johnson has only continued to rewrite the script.
She’s lifted six titles on the Legends Tour, including three senior majors: the Senior LPGA Championship in 2017 and 2021, and the US Senior Women’s Open in 2023. For most, that’s the stuff of dreams. For Johnson, it’s just another page in the scorecard.
Now recognised with an MBE for her services to golf, Trish Johnson remains as grounded as ever.
“I’m over the moon to receive such a prestigious honour, just for being lucky enough to play the game I love! My only regret is that my mum and dad are not here to see it, but I know they’ll be looking down with a huge smile on their faces, proud as punch!!”
With a career forged in consistency and capped with character, Johnson’s MBE isn’t just a personal milestone – it’s a nod to a lifetime of dedication, a national treasure who’s still very much in the swing of things.
