The 1953 U.S. Women's Open was the eighth

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open is one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, ...

, held June 25–28 at the Country Club of Rochester in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. It was the first U.S. Women's Open conducted by the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rule ...

(USGA), and the final two rounds were played on Saturday.

Betsy Rawls Elizabeth Earle Rawls (May 4, 1928 – October 21, 2023) was an American professional golfer who played on LPGA Tour. She won eight women's major golf championships, major championships and 55 LPGA Tour career events. She was a member of the Worl ...

won an 18-hole playoff on Sunday by six strokes over runner-up

Jackie Pung Jacqueline Nolte Liwai Pung (December 13, 1921 – March 15, 2017) was an American professional golfer. She played on the LPGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Pung was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother was Jacqueline Nolte. Her father w ...

, 71 to 77. It was the third of eight major championships for Rawls and the second of four U.S. Women's Opens.

Patty Berg Patricia Jane Berg (February 13, 1918 – September 10, 2006) was an American professional golfer. She was a founding member and the first president of the LPGA. Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a fem ...

set a course record with a 71 on Thursday and was the 36-hole leader on Friday evening, eight strokes ahead of the field. Her final two rounds of 80 and 79 on Saturday dropped her to solo third, one stroke out of the playoff. Notably absent was two-time champion

Babe Zaharias Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. She won two gold medals and a silver in track and field at the ...

, who was recovering from

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

surgery. She returned in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

and won by a record twelve strokes in her final U.S. Women's Open.

Final leaderboard

''Saturday, June 27, 1953'' Source:

Playoff

''Sunday, June 28, 1953'' Source:

References

External links

USGA final leaderboardU.S. Women's Open Golf Championship
– past champions – 1953
Country Club of Rochester
{{coord, 43.123, -77.537, type:event, display=title U.S. Women's Open Golf tournaments in New York (state) Women's sports in New York (state) Sports competitions in Rochester, New York