Mary Ruth Jessen (November 12, 1936 – September 21, 2007) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. She became a member of the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of wee ...

in 1956 and won 11 LPGA Tour victories in all.

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Jessen grew up in the northeast part of the city, a half block from the Meadowbrook golf course (1928–1960), now Nathan Hale High School and Meadowbrook Playfield. She also played at Jackson Park and was a junior member at Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore. Jessen was a three-time winner of the Seattle City Championship from 1953 to 1955. She won the Washington State Amateur in 1954 and the Pacific Northwest Championship in 1954 and 1955. She was also the medalist at the 1953 National Junior Championship and runner-up at the 1956 National Collegiate Championship. Jessen graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1955 and briefly played on the men's golf team at

Seattle University Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate p ...

in 1956 as a freshman. Seattle U. did not have women's teams then, but encouraged its outstanding female athletes to play on its (men's) teams, primarily in golf and tennis.

Professional career

Unconventional for the era, Jessen left college after one year to turn professional, and joined the LPGA Tour. She won 11 times on the LPGA Tour between 1959 and 1971.LPGA Tournament Chronology 1970-79
/ref> She finished as runner-up in major championships four times. Two of these were 18-hole playoff losses: at the 1962 Titleholders Championship and the

1964 U.S. Women's Open The 1964 U.S. Women's Open was the 19th U.S. Women's Open, held July 9–12 at the San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, California. Hometown favorite Mickey Wright won her fourth and final U.S. Women's Open in an 18-hole playoff, two strokes ...

, both to

Mickey Wright Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright (February 14, 1935 – February 17, 2020) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She became a member of the tour in 1955 and won 82 LPGA Tour career events including 13 major champions ...

. Jessen was in the top-10 on the money list once, the runner-up in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

with $23,431, after five tour victories that year. Jessen suffered from several health issues throughout her career, including

uterine cancer Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus. Endometrial cancer forms from the lining of the uterus, and uterine sarcoma forms from the muscles or support tissue of the ute ...

at age 32, and had over a dozen surgeries for her various ailments. She won the 1971 Ben Hogan Award after returning from elbow surgery. She was also known for her unusually wide putting stance.

Death

Jessen died at age 70 of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in 2007 in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

Professional wins (13)

LPGA Tour wins (11)

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

(1) Tampa Open *

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

(1) Peach Blossom Open *

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

(2) Dallas Civitan Open, Sacramento Open *

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

(1) Cosmopolitan Women's Open *

(5) Babe Zaharias Open Invitational, Yankee Women's Open, Omaha Jaycee Open Invitational, Hillside House Ladies' Open, Phoenix Thunderbirds Ladies' Open *

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

(1) Sears Women's World Classic

Other wins (2)

*1963 Naples Professional *1965 Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome (with Gardner Dickinson)

References

External links

''Arizona Republic'' obituary
– Ruth Jessen {{DEFAULTSORT:Jessen, Ruth American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona Golfers from Seattle Seattle Redhawks athletes Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from cancer in Arizona 1936 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American women 21st-century American women