1986 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores

The 1986 U.S. Women's Open was the 41st time this major championship was played. Jane Geddes emerged as a first-time major winner following an 18-hole playoff against Sally Little.

Winner: Jane Geddes, 287

Where it was played: NCR Country Club (South Course) in Kettering, Ohio

Tournament dates: July 10-14, 1986

Leader after first round: Beth Daniel, 70

Leaders after second round: Judy Dickinson, Betsy King, 143

Leader after third round: Betsy King, 213

What Happened in the 1986 U.S. Women's Open

Jane Geddes began the final round of the 1986 U.S. Women's Open five off the lead of Betsy King, and Sally Little was four back of King. But after final-round scores of 69 for Geddes, 70 for Little and 75 for King, Geddes and Little were tied and headed into an 18-hole playoff, while King finished one behind, tied for third place.

In the next-day playoff, Little ran off three birdies on Holes 5-7 and led by three. But on No. 8, Geddes birdied and Little bogeyed, and the lead was one. On No. 9, Little double-bogeyed and Geddes parred, giving Geddes a one-stroke edge. They were tied again after the 10th, but Geddes took the lead for good when she birdied No. 14. In the end, Geddes beat Little by two strokes, 71 to 73.

Geddes tied the tournament record for largest comeback to win after 54 holes, coming from five strokes back at the start of the final round. Geddes was the third golfer in USWO history to pull off that 5-stroke, final-round comeback. It was Geddes' first-ever win on the LPGA Tour. She eventually won 11 LPGA titles, including a second major at the 1987 LPGA Championship.

Among the fifth-place finishers was Pat Bradley. This is the only one of the four LPGA majors played in 1986 that Bradley did not win. She finished three strokes out of the playoff.

Kathy Whitworth, age 46, finished tied 65th in what turned out to be the last U.S. Women's Open in which she made the cut. Whitworth won a record 88 LPGA titles including six majors, but she never won the U.S. Women's Open. At the other end of her career was 22-year-old Laura Davies, who tied 11th in her USWO debut. She won this title one year later and ultimately won four major championships.

Laurie Rinker tied for 21st place. Her brother, Larry Rinker, played in the 1986 U.S. Open and tied 24th. The Rinkers thus became the first brother-sister pair to both make the cut in the U.S. Open/U.S. Women's Open in the same year. (One year earlier, Laurie Rinker and a different brother, Lee Rinker, were the first to both play in the Opens in the same year, but both did not make the cut.)

1987 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores

Jane Geddes	74-74-70-69—287 (71)
Sally Little	73-72-72-70—287 (73)
Ayako Okamoto	76-69-69-74—288
Betsy King	72-71-70-75—288
Jody Rosenthal	72-76-71-71—290
Judy Dickinson	72-71-74-73—290
Pat Bradley	76-71-74-69—290
Amy Alcott	75-69-74-72—290
Deb Richard	76-69-72-74—291
Cathy Morse	75-71-75-70—291
Jan Stephenson	72-78-70-73—293
Hollis Stacy	73-72-73-75—293
Laura Davies	75-73-73-72—293
a-Joan Pitcock	77-69-72-76—294
Ok-Hee Ku	74-74-72-74—294
Lauren Howe	74-75-70-75—294
Tammie Green	72-79-71-72—294
Silvia Bertolaccini	71-77-73-73—294
Nancy Scranton	78-71-71-75—295
Chris Johnson	76-71-73-75—295
Sherri Turner	72-73-78-73—296
Val Skinner	74-75-71-76—296
Laurie Rinker	77-71-73-75—296
Charlotte Montgomery	75-74-75-72—296
Beth Daniel	70-76-75-75—296
Kathy Baker	74-72-77-73—296
Muffin Spencer-Devlin	77-76-70-74—297
Patti Rizzo	76-75-74-72—297
Lenore Muraoka	73-73-75-76—297
a-Michele Redman	71-77-79-71—298
Martha Nause	72-75-72-79—298
Debbie Massey	75-73-71-79—298
Penny Hammel	76-74-69-79—298
Lori Garbacz	73-79-74-72—298
Cindy Mackey	78-73-73-75—299
Kathy Kratzert	73-74-78-74—299
Rosie Jones	77-75-73-74—299
JoAnne Carner	75-78-74-72—299
Jane Blalock	73-77-73-76—299
Alice Ritzman	76-74-74-76—300
Alice Miller	77-76-76-71—300
Jane Crafter	74-73-73-80—300
Jerilyn Britz	72-74-78-76—300
Denise Strebig	76-73-75-77—301
Patty Sheehan	73-77-72-79—301
Becky Pearson	78-71-77-75—301
Sandra Palmer	75-76-76-74—301
Pia Nilsson	74-76-74-77—301
a-Tracy Kerdyk	75-74-76-76—301
Barb Bunkowsky	74-74-76-77—301
Amy Benz	71-78-76-76—301
Betsy Barrett	74-77-74-76—301
Beth Solomon	76-74-75-77—302
Nancy Rubin	77-74-76-75—302
Penny Pulz	73-77-78-74—302
Missie McGeorge	76-74-73-79—302
LeAnn Cassaday	77-76-77-72—302
a-Michele Michanowicz	78-73-74-78—303
a-Kimberly Gardner	75-76-75-77—303
Janet Coles	73-77-78-75—303
Lisa Young	81-72-72-79—304
Bonnie Lauer	76-77-74-77—304
a-Robin Hood	77-72-77-78—304
a-Michiko Hattori	76-76-73-79—304
Kathy Whitworth	76-75-77-77—305
Sally Quinlan	77-72-79-77—305
Martha Foyer	79-73-77-76—305
a-Page Dunlap	76-76-78-75—305
Kathy Postlewait	76-74-79-77—306
Juli Inkster	80-72-78-76—306
Mary Zimmerman	78-75-81-73—307
Kathryn Young	73-77-80-77—307
Susie McAllister	77-73-79-78—307
a-Cathy Edelen	78-72-79-78—307
JoAnn Washam	77-73-83-75—308
a-Caroline Keggi	77-75-76-85—313
Jill Briles	78-74-82-80—314
a-Dottie Pepper	76-75-84-80—315
Adele Lukken	74-79-85-78—316

Sources:
Ladies Professional Golf Association. 2004 LPGA Media Guide, Player Biographies, Laura Davies and Kathy Whitworth.
Los Angeles Times. "Geddes Proves a Point, Beats Little by 2 Shots in Women’s Open Playoff," The Associated Press, July 15, 1986, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-15-sp-21249-story.html.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champion, 1986, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1986.html.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Records, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/media/online-media-center/usga-records/u-s--women-s-open-records.html.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open, Records & Results, 1986, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1986.