U.S. Women’s Open: 10 champions from The Babe to Karrie Webb

Embed from Getty Images

Mickey Wright – 1958, 1959, 1961, 1964

After one collegiate year at Stanford Mickey Wright turned pro in 1954 and joined the LPGA in 1955. She played her final competitive events in 1969. Wright’s 82 Tour victories put her second only to Kathy Whitworth as one of the Tour’s winningest players. Her 13 major championship titles put her second only to Patty Berg, who holds the Tour record with 15 majors on her resume.

Coached by Harvey Penick and praised by Ben Hogan for the purity of her swing, Mickey Wright remains one of the players in women’s golf who set the standard for swing purity and technical excellence.

Wright won her first U.S. Women’s open in 1958, wire-to-wire, at Forest Lake Country Club in suburban Detroit. She was 24-years old when she pulled out in front of a field that included Louise Suggs, Faye Crocker, Betty Jameson, Betsy Rawls, Patty Berg, and Kathy Cornelius during the first round and never looked back.

Wright became a back-to-back U.S. Open champion the following year at Churchill Valley Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh. Wright found herself in the position of chasing Louise Suggs, who had finished runner-up in 1958, but with some standout putting in the final round managed to edge out Suggs by two strokes and become the first back-to-back U.S. Women’s Open champion.

After a year’s rest – Betsy Rawls won the Open in 1960 – Wright was back on the prowl, this time at Baltustrol Golf Club in Springfield, NJ. She and Rawls battled back and forth and despite a horrible second round 80, Wright’s game came through for her. She made a third round recovery with a 69 and a respectable fourth round even par, which got her the win over Rawls by a six shot margin.

Playing as the home town favorite, Wright came back for one more U.S. Women’s Open victory at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, CA in 1964. This time Wright forced a playoff with Ruth Jessen with a dramatic greenside bunker scramble on the 72nd hole. It was pure Mickey Wright.

Mickey Wright ranks among the best of the best in women’s golf. Only Betsy Rawls also won the U.S Women’s Open four times. Only Mickey Wright has held all four major championship titles simultaneously.