1981 U.S. Women's Open: Pat Bradley wins at La Grange Country Club
Pat Bradley won the 1981 U.S. Women's Open at La Grange Country Club, La Grange, Illinois, United States with 279 (−9), by 1 stroke over Beth Daniel.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the U.S. Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- July 23, 1981 to July 26, 1981
- Course
- La Grange Country Club, La Grange, Illinois, United States
- Edition
- 36th edition
- Counted as a major
- yes
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Par
- 72 · 6,204 yards
- Entries
- 434
- Field
- 150
- Made the cut
- 70 (cut at 153)
- Purse
- $150,000 · winner's share $22,000
- Champion
- Pat Bradley · age 30 · United States · born Westford, Massachusetts, United States
- Champion's title
- 1st title at this event · 2nd major
- Winning score
- 71-74-68-66 = 279 (−9) · won by 1 stroke
- Runner-up
- Beth Daniel (280)
- 54-hole leader
- Kathy Whitworth · Pat Bradley was 3 strokes back
- Low amateur
- Kathy Baker Guadagnino (299)
- Run by
- United States Golf Association
Winner and runner-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Bradley | 71 | 74 | 68 | 66 | 279 | −9 |
| 2 | Beth Daniel | 69 | 74 | 69 | 68 | 280 | −8 |
What happened at the 1981 U.S. Women's Open
Three strokes back after 54 holes, Pat Bradley holed a 20-foot sand-wedge pitch on the 13th and a putt of about 70 feet on the 15th to take the lead for good.
On the par-5 18th, Beth Daniel's third shot barely missed going in for eagle and both players birdied, Bradley from about 3 feet, for a closing 66, a record 279 and a one-stroke win.
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: 1981 U.S. Women's Open
- Wikipedia: U.S. Women's Open
- Wikipedia: Pat Bradley (golfer)
- golfcompendium.com: 1981 us womens open
- usga.org: bradley looks back on 1981 u s women s open triumph
- web.archive.org: pastchamps
- vault.si.com: a champion and a winner as pat bradley took the womens…