Jerilyn Britz

United States · born January 1, 1943, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

1major championship, LPGA count

U.S. Women's Open1 win
Women's PGA2 2nds

Summary

First major 1979 U.S. Women's Open
Runner-up in majors 2 times

Wins

1979 U.S. Women's Open Brooklawn C.C. · 284 (E) · by 2 strokes from Debbie Massey and Sandra Palmer

Near misses

1979 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Donna Caponi
1981 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Donna Caponi

Rivals

Beat her

Moments

1979 U.S. Women's Open Debbie Massey, three ahead after 54 holes, went out in 41 with two double bogeys, then birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th to draw level with Britz before her drive on the 72nd hole finished in a divot and she made double bogey.
1979 U.S. Women's Open Britz, who had dropped three behind with a third-round 75, shot a final-round 69 for an even-par 284 that tied Louise Suggs's 1952 championship scoring record - and it was her first LPGA Tour victory.

Results by championship

Best day

1979 U.S. Women's Open

Brooklawn C.C., Fairfield, CT · 284 (E) · by 2 strokes from Debbie Massey and Sandra Palmer

Debbie Massey, three ahead after 54 holes, went out in 41 with two double bogeys, then birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th to draw level with Britz before her drive on the 72nd hole finished in a divot and she made double bogey.

Britz, who had dropped three behind with a third-round 75, shot a final-round 69 for an even-par 284 that tied Louise Suggs's 1952 championship scoring record - and it was her first LPGA Tour victory.

Chosen by rule: her widest winning margin in a major. Year page: 1979.

Career line, 1979–1981

U.S. Women's Open

1979 U.S. Women's Open: won

Women's PGA

1979 Women's PGA: runner-up to Donna Caponi1981 Women's PGA: runner-up to Donna Caponi

1979198019811982

3 results. Hover or tap a mark; click it for the year.

Major win
Runner-up

Jerilyn Britz was born on January 1, 1943, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Britz won one major championship by the LPGA's official count: the 1979 U.S. Women's Open.

See Jerilyn Britz in our rooms: Every Ground.

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The record

Wins in the majors (1)

Count and list are the LPGA official major-championship record as given in our U.S. Women's Open champions table.

1979 U.S. Women's Open Brooklawn C.C., Fairfield, CT · 284 (E) · by 2 strokes from Debbie Massey and Sandra Palmer

Near misses

1979 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Donna Caponi
1981 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Donna Caponi

Sources

Elsewhere: Wikipedia.

Every fact on this page comes from Golf Network News data sets compiled in October 2026 (Masters, PGA Championship, The Open, U.S. Women's Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Tour 2024–2026, major host sites, Champions Dinner menus, and the U.S. Open and state rooms). These are the sources those rows cite.