1971 U.S. Women's Open: JoAnne Carner wins at Kahkwa Club
JoAnne Carner won the 1971 U.S. Women's Open at Kahkwa Club, Erie, Pennsylvania, United States with 288 (E), by 7 strokes over Kathy Whitworth.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the U.S. Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- June 24, 1971 to June 27, 1971
- Course
- Kahkwa Club, Erie, Pennsylvania, United States
- Edition
- 26th edition
- Counted as a major
- yes
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Par
- 72 · 6,306 yards
- Entries
- 141
- Field
- 134
- Made the cut
- 53 (cut at 159)
- Purse
- $31,000 · winner's share $5,000
- Champion
- JoAnne Carner · age 32 · United States · born Kirkland, Washington, United States
- Champion's title
- 1st title at this event · 1st major
- Winning score
- 70-73-72-73 = 288 (E) · won by 7 strokes
- Runner-up
- Kathy Whitworth (295)
- 54-hole leader
- JoAnne Carner
- Caddie
- Tom Fessler (16-year-old Kahkwa Club caddie, assigned by draw)
- Low amateur
- Jane Bastanchury (299)
- Run by
- United States Golf Association
Winner and runner-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JoAnne Carner | 70 | 73 | 72 | 73 | 288 | E |
| 2 | Kathy Whitworth | 73 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 295 | +7 |
What happened at the 1971 U.S. Women's Open
JoAnne Carner took a five-stroke lead over Mary Mills into the final round and won by seven over Kathy Whitworth, leading or sharing the lead after every round.
Carner became the first player to win the U.S. Girls' Junior, the U.S. Women's Amateur and the U.S. Women's Open.
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).