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Louise Suggs

United States · born , Atlanta, Georgia, United States · died

11major championships, LPGA count

Summary

  • First major 1949 U.S. Women's Open
  • Last major 1957 KPMG Women's PGA Championship
  • Runner-up in majors 9 times
  • Other titles 1947 U.S. Women's Amateur and 1948 Women's Amateur

Wins

  1. 1946 Titleholders Championship won (an LPGA major)
  2. 1946 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
  3. 1947 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
  4. 1947 U.S. Women's Amateur Franklin Hills Country Club · 2 up
  5. 1948 The Women's Amateur Championship Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club · 1 up
  6. 1949 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
  7. 1949 U.S. Women's Open Prince Georges Golf & Country Club · 291 (-9) · by 14 strokes from Babe Didrikson Zaharias
  8. 1952 U.S. Women's Open Bala Golf Club · 284 (+8) · by 7 strokes from Marlene Bauer and Betty Jameson
  9. 1953 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
  10. 1954 Titleholders Championship won (an LPGA major)
  11. 1956 Titleholders Championship won (an LPGA major)
  12. 1957 KPMG Women's PGA Championship Churchill Valley Country Club · 285 (+5) · 3 strokes from Wiffi Smith
  13. 1959 Titleholders Championship won (an LPGA major)

Near misses

  1. 1951 U.S. Women's Open Druid Hills Golf Club · runner-up to Betsy Rawls · 298
  2. 1955 U.S. Women's Open Wichita Country Club · runner-up to Fay Crocker · 303
  3. 1955 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Beverly Hanson
  4. 1958 U.S. Women's Open Forest Lake Country Club · runner-up to Mickey Wright · 295
  5. 1959 U.S. Women's Open Churchill Valley Country Club · runner-up to Mickey Wright · 289
  6. 1960 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Mickey Wright
  7. 1961 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Mickey Wright
  8. 1963 U.S. Women's Open Kenwood Country Club · runner-up to Mary Mills · 292
  9. 1963 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Mickey Wright

Rivals

Beat her

Beverly HansonBeat Louise Suggs to the 1955 Women's PGA Championship

Next in the chain: Betsy Rawls' rivals →

Moments

  1. 1949 U.S. Women's Open Suggs opened with a 69 to lead by three (book p15, largest 18-hole lead), led after every round, and won by 14 strokes - the largest margin in championship history (book p16) - with a then-record 291.
  2. 1949 U.S. Women's Open Four strokes ahead of Zaharias entering Sunday's final round, Suggs went out in 36 to Zaharias's 40 to lead by eight with nine to play; Zaharias, irritated by a newsreel camera, then clowned on the 18th green, putting backwards from 30 feet and holing it on her second try.
  3. 1952 U.S. Women's Open Suggs shot 70-69-70 for a 54-hole record of 209 (old mark 218, Rawls 1951) and a seven-stroke lead, then closed with 75 for a record 72-hole total of 284 (book p13).
  4. 1952 U.S. Women's Open In the second round Marilynn Smith shot a two-under-par 67, breaking the championship's one-round record of 69, and the next day 18-year-old Marlene Bauer tied it with a third-round 67 on her way to a share of second.

Records and firsts

  1. 1949 U.S. Women's Open largest winning margin · 14
  2. — U.S. Women's Open most runner-up finishes · 5 (JoAnne Carner; Louise Suggs)
  3. — U.S. Women's Open most top-10s / top-5s · 19 / 14

Results by championship

    Best day

    1949 U.S. Women's Open

    Prince Georges Golf & Country Club, Landover, MD · 291 (-9) · by 14 strokes from Babe Didrikson Zaharias

    Suggs opened with a 69 to lead by three (book p15, largest 18-hole lead), led after every round, and won by 14 strokes - the largest margin in championship history (book p16) - with a then-record 291.

    Four strokes ahead of Zaharias entering Sunday's final round, Suggs went out in 36 to Zaharias's 40 to lead by eight with nine to play; Zaharias, irritated by a newsreel camera, then clowned on the 18th green, putting backwards from 30 feet and holing it on her second try.

    Record: largest winning margin · 14

    Chosen by rule: the major win our record tables single out. Year page: 1949.

    Career line, 1946–1963

    U.S. Women's Open
    1949 U.S. Women's Open: won1951 U.S. Women's Open: runner-up to Betsy Rawls1952 U.S. Women's Open: won1955 U.S. Women's Open: runner-up to Fay Crocker1958 U.S. Women's Open: runner-up to Mickey Wright1959 U.S. Women's Open: runner-up to Mickey Wright1963 U.S. Women's Open: runner-up to Mary Mills
    Women's PGA
    1955 Women's PGA: runner-up to Beverly Hanson1957 Women's PGA: won1960 Women's PGA: runner-up to Mickey Wright1961 Women's PGA: runner-up to Mickey Wright1963 Women's PGA: runner-up to Mickey Wright
    Other LPGA majors
    1946 Titleholders Championship: won1946 Western Open: won1947 Western Open: won1949 Western Open: won1953 Western Open: won1954 Titleholders Championship: won1956 Titleholders Championship: won1959 Titleholders Championship: won
    U.S. Women's Amateur
    1947 U.S. Women's Amateur: won
    Women's Amateur
    1948 Women's Amateur: won
    195019551960

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

    • Major win
    • Other win
    • Runner-up

    Louise Suggs was born on September 7, 1923, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Suggs won 11 major championships by the LPGA's official count: 4 Titleholders Championships (1946, 1954, 1956, 1959), 4 Western Opens (1946, 1947, 1949, 1953), 2 U.S. Women's Opens (1949, 1952) and 1 Women's PGA Championship (1957).

    See Louise Suggs in our rooms: Every Ground.

    Cards you pull this visit stack here. Tap one to go back to it.

    The record

    Wins in the majors (11)

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

    1. 1946 Titleholders Championship won (an LPGA major)
    2. 1946 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
    3. 1947 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
    4. 1947 U.S. Women's Amateur Franklin Hills Country Club · 2 up
    5. 1948 The Women's Amateur Championship Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club · 1 up
    6. 1949 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
    7. 1949 U.S. Women's Open Prince Georges Golf & Country Club, Landover, MD · 291 (-9) · by 14 strokes from Babe Didrikson Zaharias
    8. 1952 U.S. Women's Open Bala Golf Club, Philadelphia, PA · 284 (+8) · by 7 strokes from Marlene Bauer and Betty Jameson
    9. 1953 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
    10. 1954 Titleholders Championship won (an LPGA major)
    11. 1956 Titleholders Championship won (an LPGA major)
    12. 1957 KPMG Women's PGA Championship Churchill Valley Country Club · 285 (+5) · 3 strokes from Wiffi Smith
    13. 1959 Titleholders Championship won (an LPGA major)

    Near misses

    1. 1951 U.S. Women's Open Druid Hills Golf Club · runner-up to Betsy Rawls · 298
    2. 1955 U.S. Women's Open Wichita Country Club · runner-up to Fay Crocker · 303
    3. 1955 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Beverly Hanson
    4. 1958 U.S. Women's Open Forest Lake Country Club · runner-up to Mickey Wright · 295
    5. 1959 U.S. Women's Open Churchill Valley Country Club · runner-up to Mickey Wright · 289
    6. 1960 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Mickey Wright
    7. 1961 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Mickey Wright
    8. 1963 U.S. Women's Open Kenwood Country Club · runner-up to Mary Mills · 292
    9. 1963 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Mickey Wright

    Other wins in championships we cover

    1. 1947 U.S. Women's Amateur Franklin Hills Country Club · 2 up
    2. 1948 The Women's Amateur Championship Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club · 1 up

    Records and firsts

    Rows from our record tables that name this player, worded as the tables word them.

    1. 1949 U.S. Women's Open largest winning margin · 14
    2. — U.S. Women's Open most runner-up finishes · 5 (JoAnne Carner; Louise Suggs)
    3. — U.S. Women's Open most top-10s / top-5s · 19 / 14

    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.

    1. usga.org: 26USWomensOpen
    2. lpga.com: major championship records
    3. lpga.com: louise suggs
    4. georgiaencyclopedia.org: louise suggs 1923 2015
    5. Wikipedia: Louise Suggs
    6. Wikipedia: 1949 U.S. Women's Open
    7. loc.gov: ed 1
    8. loc.gov: ed 1
    9. loc.gov: ed 1
    10. loc.gov: ed 1
    11. si.com: ap glf obit suggs
    12. worldgolfhalloffame.org
    13. loc.gov: ed 1
    14. Wikipedia: 1952 U.S. Women's Open
    15. loc.gov: ed 1
    16. loc.gov: ed 1
    17. loc.gov: ed 1
    18. Wikipedia: Women's PGA Championship
    19. Wikipedia: 1957 LPGA Championship
    20. Wikipedia: U.S. Women's Amateur
    21. championships.usga.org: u s women s amateur champions
    22. Wikipedia: Women's Amateur Championship
    23. golfcompendium.com: british womens amateur winners
    24. Wikipedia: Jean Donald