1951 U.S. Women's Open: Betsy Rawls wins at Druid Hills Golf Club
Betsy Rawls won the 1951 U.S. Women's Open at Druid Hills Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia, United States with 293 (+5), by 5 strokes over Louise Suggs.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the U.S. Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- September 13, 1951 to September 16, 1951
- Course
- Druid Hills Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
- Edition
- 6th edition
- Counted as a major
- yes
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Par
- 72 · 6,200 yards
- Field
- 77
- Purse
- $7,500 · winner's share $1,500
- Champion
- Betsy Rawls · age 23 · United States · born Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States
- Champion's title
- 1st title at this event · 1st major
- Winning score
- 73-71-74-75 = 293 (+5) · won by 5 strokes
- Runner-up
- Louise Suggs (298)
- 54-hole leader
- Betsy Rawls
- Low amateur
- Pat Lesser (300)
- Run by
- LPGA
Winner and runner-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Betsy Rawls | 73 | 71 | 74 | 75 | 293 | +5 |
| 2 | Louise Suggs | 73 | 79 | 75 | 71 | 298 | +10 |
What happened at the 1951 U.S. Women's Open
Amateur Martha Cowden made the championship's first hole-in-one, acing the 145-yard 4th hole at Druid Hills with a 3-iron in the third round.
LPGA rookie Betsy Rawls took a three-stroke lead into the final round and won by five over Louise Suggs, whose closing 71 was the best round of the day.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's U.S. Women's Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: womens-golf-majors_dataset_2026-10-20.json (GNN's women's majors research set, "master" row for this year, research dated October 20, 2026).
Also from GNN's U.S. Women's Open set (entries, runners-up round by round, values the majors set does not hold).