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Susie Maxwell Berning

United States · born , Pasadena, California, United States · died

4major championships, LPGA count

Summary

  • First major 1968 U.S. Women's Open
  • Last major 1973 U.S. Women's Open
  • Runner-up in majors 1 time

Wins

  1. 1965 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
  2. 1968 U.S. Women's Open Moselem Springs Golf Club · 289 (+5) · by 3 strokes from Mickey Wright
  3. 1972 U.S. Women's Open Winged Foot G.C. (East Course) · 299 (+11) · by 1 stroke from Kathy Ahern, Pam Barnett and Judy Rankin
  4. 1973 U.S. Women's Open Country Club of Rochester · 290 (+2) · by 5 strokes from Gloria Ehret and Shelley Hamlin

Near misses

  1. 1969 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Betsy Rawls

Rivals

Beat her

Next in the chain: Betsy Rawls' rivals →

Moments

  1. 1968 U.S. Women's Open Berning led outright after every round, opening with a 69, one of only two sub-70 rounds of the week, and won by three despite bogeying each of the last three holes of the final round.
  2. 1968 U.S. Women's Open Mickey Wright, six strokes back entering the final round, shot a 68, the low round of the championship, to finish second, her only runner-up finish in the event.
  3. 1972 U.S. Women's Open One stroke behind leader Pam Barnett when she reached the 17th green in the final round, Berning holed a 20-foot birdie putt there and parred the 18th for a closing 71 and a 299 total.
  4. 1972 U.S. Women's Open Playing behind her, 54-hole leader Pam Barnett bogeyed the 17th to fall one stroke back and finished tied for second with Kathy Ahern and Judy Rankin at 300.
  5. 1973 U.S. Women's Open Shelley Hamlin, three behind at the start of the final round, birdied the 10th and 12th to get within one of Berning, but three-putted the 13th for bogey and faded, finishing five back.
  6. 1973 U.S. Women's Open Berning, who won on her 32nd birthday, hit every fairway in the final round but found seven greenside bunkers and got up and down from six of them, using a putter her husband had bought for $5 in a pawn shop three months earlier.

Records and firsts

  1. 1972 U.S. Women's Open highest first round by a champion · 79
  2. various U.S. Women's Open three titles · 3 (Zaharias; Susie Maxwell Berning; Hollis Stacy; Annika Sorenstam)
  3. 1968 U.S. Women's Open Wire-to-wire U.S. Women's Open winner: no ties

Results by championship

    Best day

    1972 U.S. Women's Open

    Winged Foot G.C. (East Course), Mamaroneck, NY · 299 (+11) · by 1 stroke from Kathy Ahern, Pam Barnett and Judy Rankin

    One stroke behind leader Pam Barnett when she reached the 17th green in the final round, Berning holed a 20-foot birdie putt there and parred the 18th for a closing 71 and a 299 total.

    Playing behind her, 54-hole leader Pam Barnett bogeyed the 17th to fall one stroke back and finished tied for second with Kathy Ahern and Judy Rankin at 300.

    Record: highest first round by a champion · 79

    Chosen by rule: the major win our record tables single out. Year page: 1972.

    Career line, 1965–1973

    U.S. Women's Open
    1968 U.S. Women's Open: won1972 U.S. Women's Open: won1973 U.S. Women's Open: won
    Women's PGA
    1969 Women's PGA: runner-up to Betsy Rawls
    Other LPGA majors
    1965 Western Open: won
    19661968197019721974

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

    • Major win
    • Runner-up

    Susie Maxwell Berning was born on July 22, 1941, in Pasadena, California, United States. Berning won 4 major championships by the LPGA's official count: 1 Western Open (1965) and 3 U.S. Women's Opens (1968, 1972, 1973).

    See Susie Maxwell Berning 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 (4)

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

    1. 1965 Western Open won (an LPGA major)
    2. 1968 U.S. Women's Open Moselem Springs Golf Club, Fleetwood, PA · 289 (+5) · by 3 strokes from Mickey Wright
    3. 1972 U.S. Women's Open Winged Foot G.C. (East Course), Mamaroneck, NY · 299 (+11) · by 1 stroke from Kathy Ahern, Pam Barnett and Judy Rankin
    4. 1973 U.S. Women's Open Country Club of Rochester, Rochester, NY · 290 (+2) · by 5 strokes from Gloria Ehret and Shelley Hamlin

    Near misses

    1. 1969 KPMG Women's PGA Championship runner-up to Betsy Rawls

    Records and firsts

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

    1. 1972 U.S. Women's Open highest first round by a champion · 79
    2. various U.S. Women's Open three titles · 3 (Zaharias; Susie Maxwell Berning; Hollis Stacy; Annika Sorenstam)
    3. 1968 U.S. Women's Open Wire-to-wire U.S. Women's Open winner: no ties

    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: bio
    4. lpga.com: overview
    5. nbcsports.com: susie maxwell berning three times u s womens open champion dies at 83
    6. usga.org: 3 time us women open champ maxwell berning dies
    7. espn.com: susie maxwell berning golf hall famer lpga pioneer dies 83
    8. Wikipedia: Susie Maxwell Berning
    9. usga.org: u s women s open results 1946 to present
    10. Wikipedia: 1968 U.S. Women's Open
    11. golfcompendium.com: 1968 us womens open
    12. golfcompendium.com: low amateurs us womens open
    13. where2golf.com: susie berning
    14. Wikipedia: Susie Berning
    15. thegolfnewsnet.com: us womens open history results and past winners 126262
    16. Wikipedia: 1968 LPGA Tour
    17. Wikipedia: 1972 U.S. Women's Open
    18. golfcompendium.com: 1972 us womens open
    19. usga.org: hall call comes to for 3 time u s women s open champ maxwell be
    20. usga.org: runaway colt spurred berning s hall of fame career
    21. golfcompendium.com: susie maxwell berning golfer
    22. Wikipedia: 1973 U.S. Women's Open
    23. golfcompendium.com: 1973 us womens open
    24. si.com: birthday present for herself