Betsy Rawls

Wins

1. 1951 U.S. Women's Open Druid Hills Golf Club · 293 (+5) · by 5 strokes from Louise Suggs
2. 1952 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
3. 1953 U.S. Women's Open Country Club of Rochester · 302 (+6) · won a playoff against Jacqueline Pung
4. 1957 U.S. Women's Open Winged Foot Golf Club (East Course) · 299 (+7) · by 6 strokes from Patty Berg
5. 1959 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
6. 1959 KPMG Women's PGA Championship Sheraton Hotel Country Club · 288 (-8) · 1 stroke from Patty Berg
7. 1960 U.S. Women's Open Worcester Country Club · 292 (+4) · by 1 stroke from Joyce Ziske
8. 1969 KPMG Women's PGA Championship Concord Golf Club · 293 (+1) · 4 strokes from Carol Mann and Susie Maxwell Berning

Near misses

1. 1950 U.S. Women's Open Rolling Hills Country Club · runner-up to Babe Didrikson Zaharias · 300
2. 1961 U.S. Women's Open Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower Course) · runner-up to Mickey Wright · 299

Rivals

Beat her

Beaten in finals and playoffs

Next in the chain: Babe Didrikson Zaharias' rivals →

Moments

1. 1951 U.S. Women's Open In the third round Zaharias hit a nine-iron third shot on the 500-yard par-5 5th that stopped wedged between the flagstick and the lip of the cup; a breeze shifted the pin and the ball dropped for an eagle 3.
2. 1951 U.S. Women's Open First-year professional Betsy Rawls, 23, a Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas, led by four at 36 holes and three at 54 (218), then held on with a closing 75 to win by five over Louise Suggs, whose closing 71 took second from Zaharias.
3. 1953 U.S. Women's Open Patty Berg opened with a course-record 71 (3-stroke lead) and led by eight after 36 holes (book p15), but rounds of 80 and 79 in Saturday's 36-hole finish left her one stroke out of the playoff.
4. 1953 U.S. Women's Open Rawls beat Jackie Pung 71 to 77 in the first 18-hole playoff in championship history on Sunday, June 28 (book p9).
5. 1957 U.S. Women's Open Jackie Pung (73-72 on the final day for 298) was hailed as champion for about an hour and was 'virtually clutching the check' when a check of the cards showed her marker Betty Jameson had written a 5 for her 6 on the 4th hole of the final round; Pung had signed it, and USGA officials disqualified her and gave the title to Rawls (299).
6. 1957 U.S. Women's Open A fund to match the $1,800 Pung would have won drew more than $1,000 in pledges within a few hours (AP) and reportedly about $3,000 in all, while Rawls said: 'Well, it's nice to win but I feel very badly about what happened to Jackie.'
7. 1960 U.S. Women's Open Seven strokes behind Mickey Wright after 36 holes, Rawls shot a four-under-par 68 in Saturday morning's third round to wipe out the deficit and tie Wright at 217.
8. 1960 U.S. Women's Open In the afternoon final round Rawls fell two strokes behind Joyce Ziske on the front nine, then rallied with a two-under-par 35 on the back nine to win by one for an unprecedented fourth Women's Open title.

Records and firsts

1. various U.S. Women's Open highest winning score · 302 (Betsy Rawls 1953; Kathy Cornelius 1956 (both via playoff))
2. 1951 U.S. Women's Open most titles · 4 (1951-53-57-60; 1958-59-61-64) (Betsy Rawls; Mickey Wright)
3. 1953 U.S. Women's Open U.S. Women's Open first: USGA-run champion