Ladies of the Lake Photo Gallery

The first image in our gallery is also the only one that does not depict a golfer in the water of (or in the process of leaping into) Poppie's Pond (also known as Champions Lake), adjacent to the 18th green on the Dinah Shore Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. But can you blame us for choosing this image of Patty Sheehan, rather than one of her in the water? After her victory at the 1996 Kraft Nabisco Championship, Sheehan cartwheeled her way into the water.

"Leap" propably isn't the right word for Betsy King's dunking in 1997. King ran into the waters. It was King's first win on the LPGA Tour in two years, so she was probably feeling quite a bit of relief as she sank into the soothing waters.

Dottie Pepper never did anything half-speed in her golf career, and her Champion's Leap was an exuberant one. Pepper won by six strokes, and her 19-under-par score is the best-ever in relation to par in an LPGA major, and tied for best-ever in any major, men's or women's (only Tiger Woods has matched it).

The 2000 Kraft Nabisco Championship was the second major championship of Karrie Webb's career, and Karrie didn't take any prisoners: She won wire-to-wire, and finished 10 strokes ahead of the runner-up. It's the largest margin of victory in this tournament.

In the photo, Webb has her back to the camera. The woman hugging Webb is singer Celine Dion, who for some reason went into the water with Webb.

Annika Sorenstam won the first of what would eventually be three titles in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2001. And like everything she does, when it was time for Sorenstam to make the Champion's Leap, she dove in head-first.

Following her 2002 victory, Annika Sorenstam took a gentler approach to the Champion's Leap. She escorted the young daughter of her caddie, Terry McNamara, into the pond, holding the hand of little Reilly. (That's Charlotta Sorenstam, Annika's sister, in the background.)

We're not sure if Patricia Meunier-Lebouc was excited about the tradition of the Champion's Leap, or whether she even wanted to go into the water at all. But by golly, she was going into the water. Her husband made sure of that. Husband Antoine Lebouc carries Patricia into the pond in the photo above, preceded by Meunier-Lebouc's leaping caddie.

Grace Park had been the best-player-without-a-major for a couple seasons, always contending but unable to break through for the win. In 2004, she engaged in a spirited final-day battle with 17-year-old Aree Song before pulling out the victory on the final hole. And into the water she went with a high-flying caddie along for the ride.

The 2005 win at the Kraft Nabisco Championship was the final of Annika's three wins in this tournament. She won by eight strokes, and it was Sorenstam's fifth consecutive LPGA win. For her celebratory jump in the lake, she took her sister Charlotta (left) along for the leap.

The 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship is remembered for two displays of exuberance by the usually guarded Karrie Webb. The first happened when she holed out for eagle on the 72nd hole of the tournament and leaped into her caddie's arms. She wound up winning in a playoff over Lorena Ochoa, and made quite a big splash on her energetic Champion's Leap with caddie Mike Paterson. This may represent the best hang time achieved by any of the Ladies of the Lake.

Morgan Pressel strikes a classic pose after her Champion's Leap in 2007. Her caddie and grandmother also went into the water with her. Pressel's victory made her the youngest-ever major championship winner at age 18 years, 10 months and 9 days.

Lorena Ochoa is deeply committed to her family and close friends. So committed that she took a horde of them into the waters of Poppie's Pond with her after her 2008 victory. Ochoa's celebration is surely the recordholder, too, for champion who spent the most time in the water. Ochoa splashed around for a while before heading back to dry land and the trophy presentation.

Brittany Lincicome's leap following the 2009 KNC was jubilant not just for the victory, but also for the time it took to get that victory. After a great start to her young LPGA career from 2005-07, Lincicome had gone nearly two years playing poorly during swing changes. But when she won at the Kraft Nabisco, it marked her first major championship and third career win. Jumping with her were her father and her caddie (left), Tara Bateman.

Yani Tseng's jump into Poppie's Pond came at the age of 21. Yet, despite being so young, Tseng's victory at the 2010 Kraft Nabisco Championship was her second win in an LPGA major. She won the 2008 LPGA Championship when she was only 19 years old.

Stacy Lewis is second from the left in the image above. To her left is her caddie, Travis Wilson; and from Lewis' right are her sister Janet, mother Carol and father Dale.

Lewis won the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship in impressive fashion. She started the final round trailing defending champion and world No. 1 Yani Tseng by two strokes. But Lewis carded a 69 to Tseng's 74 to win by three.

It was not only Lewis' first major championship win, but her first LPGA Tour victory.

Unfortunately, Lewis' mother suffered an injury on the jump, landing awkwardly close to the bank. She was taken from the course in an ambulance and to a local hospital, where it was discovered that Carol Lewis had a broken fibula.

Sun Young Yoo keeps it simple for her Champion's Leap after winning the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship. Her caddie put a little more creativity into his jump into Poppie's Pond.

Yoo's jump was an unlikely one. Thirty minutes earlier, it seemed Yoo was going to finish runner-up to I.K. Kim. But then Kim inexplicably missed a 1-foot putt on the 72nd green. That sent Yoo and Kim into a playoff, and Yoo won it with a nice birdie on the first extra hole.

Inbee Park, winner of the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Championship, comes up out of the water after she and her entourage made the leap into Poppie's Pond. Park won the 2013 KNC by four strokes, although it really wasn't that close: She dominated the final round, never really being challenged.

Park also had the foresight to take a couple water bottles into the lake with her. She filled them with water from Poppie's Pond, as a keepsake of the moment.

It was Park's second major championship, after the 2008 U.S. Women's Open.

Lexi Thompson was not yet 20 years old when she made the Champion's Leap into Poppie's Pond after winning the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship. She won the tournament by three strokes over runner-up Michelle Wie, and was in solid control throughout most of the final day of play.

Multiple people jumped into the water along with Thompson, including her parents. In the photo above, Thompson celebrates with caddie Benji Thompson.

In 2015 - the first year the tournament was played under the name ANA Inspiration - Brittany Lincicome got to make the Champion's Leap for the second time. When she won in 2009, she did so by making eagle on the final hole. This time she also eagled the 72nd hole, and that got her into a playoff. In the playoff, she beat Stacy Lewis on the third extra hole.

Making the jump with Lincicome in 2015 were her caddie and her father (right), plus her fiance, long drive competitor Dewald Gouws.

Lydia Ko never led in the final round of the 2016 ANA Inspiration ... until she birdied the final hole. That gave her the 1-stroke victory and continued the amazing story of an amazing young golfer.

It was Ko's second win in an LPGA major, and she wasn't even 19 years old yet. In fact, Ko was three weeks shy of her 19th birthday, which made this victory No. 3 on the list of youngest LPGA major winners. This victory also goes onto the list of overall youngest LPGA winners, a record category dominated by Ko.

So Yeon Ryu won the 2017 ANA Inspiration after an unfortunate penalty situation involving Lexi Thompson. In the third round, Thompson replaced a ball on the green in the wrong spot. Nobody noticed the violation, though, until a television viewer, watching the following day, caught it. That viewer alerted tournament officials, and Thompson - who appeared in control of the tournament on the final day - was penalized four strokes in Round 4 for something that happened during Round 3.

A lousy break for Thompson, but an opening for other golfers in the field. And Ryu took advantage. She shot 68, including a birdie on the 72nd hole, then defeated Thompson on the first playoff hole.

Pernilla Lindberg, flanked by her mom and dad, made the leap after surviving an eight-hole, sudden-death playoff in 2018. (Her caddie and future husband Daniel Taylor is the one diving in head-first.)

Lindberg, Inbee Park and Jennifer Song were in the playoff, but Song was eliminated on the third hole. Lindberg and Park, however, just kept going ... and going. It took eight holes before Lindberg won not only the right to make the Champion's Leap, but also her first LPGA Tour victory of any kind.

Jin Young Ko (center in the photo) won the 2019 ANA Inspiration by three strokes after holing a birdie on the final hole. It was the first major championship win for the 23-year-old, but her second LPGA win of the year and her fourth overall.

Making the leap with Ko were her caddie David Brooker and interpreter Soo jin Choi.