Golf Network News ← Back to the ClubhouseClubhouse

2002 U.S. Women's Open: Juli Inkster wins at Prairie Dunes Country Club

Juli Inkster won the 2002 U.S. Women's Open at Prairie Dunes Country Club, Hutchinson, Kansas, United States with 276 (−4), by 2 strokes over Annika Sörenstam.

Updated October 23, 2026

Every year is on the U.S. Women's Open winners list.

Dates
July 4, 2002 to July 7, 2002
Course
Prairie Dunes Country Club, Hutchinson, Kansas, United States
Edition
57th edition
Counted as a major
yes
Format
stroke play, 4 rounds
Par
70 · 6,267 yards
Entries
971
Field
156
Made the cut
69 (cut at 149)
Purse
$3,000,000 · winner's share $535,000
Champion
Juli Inkster · age 42 · United States · born Santa Cruz, California, United States
Champion's title
2nd title at this event · 7th major
Winning score
67-72-71-66 = 276 (−4) · won by 2 strokes
Runner-up
Annika Sörenstam (278)
54-hole leader
Annika Sörenstam · Juli Inkster was 2 strokes back
Low amateurs
Aree Song, Angela Jerman (294 each)
Run by
United States Golf Association

Winner and runner-up

Pos.PlayerR1R2R3R4TotalTo par
1Juli Inkster67727166276−4
2Annika Sorenstam70696970278−2

What happened at the 2002 U.S. Women's Open

Juli Inkster began the final round two strokes behind Annika Sörenstam and closed with a 66, reaching five under after 15 holes, to win by two.

At 42 years, 14 days Inkster became the second-oldest champion after Babe Zaharias and won her seventh and final major.

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

  1. usga.org: 26USWomensOpen
  2. Wikipedia: 2002 U.S. Women's Open
  3. mediacenter.usga.org: 2026 U.S. Women's Open Fact Sheet V2
  4. Wikipedia: Women's major golf championships
  5. Wikipedia: U.S. Women's Open
  6. Wikipedia: Juli Inkster
  7. golfcompendium.com: 2002 us womens open
  8. web.archive.org: pastchamps
  9. web.archive.org: us womens open
  10. web.archive.org: alllb
  11. web.archive.org: csuma
  12. web.archive.org: factsheet
  13. web.archive.org: final friday
  14. web.archive.org: friday notebook
  15. web.archive.org: fact sheet