1961 U.S. Women's Open: Mickey Wright wins at Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower Course)
Mickey Wright won the 1961 U.S. Women's Open at Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower Course), Springfield, New Jersey, United States with 293 (+5), by 6 strokes over Betsy Rawls.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the U.S. Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- June 29, 1961 to July 1, 1961
- Course
- Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower Course), Springfield, New Jersey, United States
- Edition
- 16th edition
- Counted as a major
- yes
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Par
- 72 · 6,372 yards
- Entries
- 85
- Field
- 82
- Made the cut
- 41 (cut at 168)
- Purse
- $8,000 · winner's share $1,800
- Champion
- Mickey Wright · age 26 · United States · born San Diego, California, United States
- Champion's title
- 3rd title at this event · 6th major
- Winning score
- 72-80-69-72 = 293 (+5) · won by 6 strokes
- Runner-up
- Betsy Rawls (299)
- 54-hole leader
- Mickey Wright
- Low amateur
- Marlene Stewart Streit (306)
- Run by
- United States Golf Association
Winner and runner-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mickey Wright | 72 | 80 | 69 | 72 | 293 | +5 |
| 2 | Betsy Rawls | 74 | 76 | 73 | 76 | 299 | +11 |
What happened at the 1961 U.S. Women's Open
Mickey Wright shot 80 in the second round to fall four strokes back, then a Saturday-morning 69, three better than anyone else that week, gave her a two-stroke lead over Betsy Rawls.
Wright closed with 72 to win by six at Baltusrol's Lower Course, playing the four par 5s in 7 under par for the week.
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).
Sources
- usga.org: 26USWomensOpen
- Wikipedia: 1961 U.S. Women's Open
- Wikipedia: U.S. Women's Open
- Wikipedia: Mickey Wright
- golfcompendium.com: 1961 us womens open winner and scores
- usga.org: u s women s open results 1946 to present
- golfcompendium.com: low amateurs us womens open
- where2golf.com: mickey wright
- loc.gov: resource
- loc.gov: resource
- thegolfnewsnet.com: us womens open history results and past winners 126262
- Wikipedia: 1961 LPGA Tour