1987 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
The 1987 U.S. Women's Open was the 42nd time this major championship was played. Laura Davies won her first major, and her first LPGA Tour title, in a 3-way playoff.
Winner: Laura Davies, 285
Where it was played: Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey
Tournament dates: July 23-28, 1987
Leaders after first round: Dot Germain, Bonnie Lauer, 69
Leader after second round: Laura Davies, 142
Leader after third round: Ayako Okamoto, 213
What Happened in the 1987 U.S. Women's Open
Weather delays pushed the finish of the fourth round of the 1987 U.S. Women's Open to Monday, which meant that the 18-hole playoff was pushed to Tuesday. But the wait was worth it for 23-year-old Laura Davies.Davies won the playoff with a 71, beating Ayako Okamoto by two strokes and JoAnne Carner by three. Davies had victories on the Ladies European Tour, but this was her first win on the LPGA Tour. This victory is how she earned LPGA membership, with her rookie season in 1988. Davies went on to 20 career LPGA wins, four of those being major championships.
Okamoto was the leader after three rounds, with Davies one behind and Carner three back. In the final round, though, Carner shot 69, Davies 71 and Okamoto 72, resulting in a 3-way tie at 285. Carner birdied the 17th hole to take a one-stroke lead and would have won the title in regulation had she parred No. 18. But she didn't, missing a 5-foot par putt.
In the playoff, Davies birdied Nos. 14 and 15 to take a three-stroke lead. She was able to par in from there for the victory.
For Carner, it was her fifth time finishing second or tied second in a U.S. Women's Open. That tied the tournament record originally set by Louise Suggs. Carner's other runner-up finishes in the USWO were in 1975, 1978, 1982 and 1983. Carner also won this major twice, in 1971 and 1976.
Okamoto won 17 times on the LPGA Tour, but none of those wins were in majors. This was one of six times she finished second in a major.
LPGA legend Kathy Whitworth missed the cut, but it was her 29th consecutive year playing in the USWO. At the time, that tied the record for consecutive starts in this major. Whitworth's streak ended when she did not play the next year, although she did make a couple starts again after that.
1987 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Laura Davies | 72-70-72-71—285 (71) |
| Ayako Okamoto | 71-72-70-72—285 (73) |
| JoAnne Carner | 74-70-72-69—285 (74) |
| Jody Rosenthal | 71-72-74-72—289 |
| Betsy King | 75-73-70-71—289 |
| Deedee Roberts | 74-73-69-74—290 |
| Debbie Massey | 76-69-74-71—290 |
| Martha Nause | 76-69-70-76—291 |
| Sally Quinlan | 75-71-71-75—292 |
| Kathy Postlewait | 70-79-73-70—292 |
| Rosie Jones | 75-71-71-75—292 |
| Dottie Mochrie | 73-72-77-71—293 |
| Marta Figueras-Dotti | 77-70-74-72—293 |
| Amy Alcott | 72-71-76-74—293 |
| Alice Ritzman | 76-74-73-71—294 |
| Tammie Green | 72-74-72-76—294 |
| Deb Richard | 72-73-75-75—295 |
| Sandra Palmer | 71-72-75-77—295 |
| Cindy Rarick | 74-71-76-75—296 |
| Michele Berteotti | 73-74-79-70—296 |
| Donna White | 77-72-74-74—297 |
| Sherri Turner | 77-73-74-73—297 |
| Denise Strebig | 74-78-73-72—297 |
| Patty Sheehan | 74-74-77-72—297 |
| Nancy Lopez | 73-71-77-76—297 |
| a-Michiko Hattori | 78-73-71-75—297 |
| Amy Benz | 74-73-74-76—297 |
| Anne-Marie Palli | 74-73-77-74—298 |
| a-Kathleen McCarthy | 74-78-69-77—298 |
| Bonnie Lauer | 69-76-76-77—298 |
| Lori Garbacz | 77-72-77-72—298 |
| Jerilyn Britz | 79-71-76-72—298 |
| Hollis Stacy | 76-76-75-72—299 |
| Cathy Morse | 74-74-76-75—299 |
| Nancy Ledbetter | 79-73-74-73—299 |
| Ok-Hee Ku | 73-73-77-76—299 |
| Dorothy Germain | 69-75-79-76—299 |
| Beth Daniel | 73-75-77-74—299 |
| Marci Bozarth | 72-73-81-73—299 |
| a-Cindy Scholefield | 75-74-72-79—300 |
| Missie McGeorge | 78-74-75-73—300 |
| Cathy Marino | 78-73-75-74—300 |
| Juli Inkster | 78-72-79-71—300 |
| Carolyn Hill | 75-73-78-74—300 |
| Kandi Kessler | 74-78-75-74—301 |
| Dale Eggeling | 76-74-77-74—301 |
| Judy Dickinson | 77-71-78-76—302 |
| Dawn Coe | 78-69-77-78—302 |
| a-Kay Cockerill | 73-74-76-79—302 |
| Mary Zimmerman | 78-74-77-74—303 |
| Marilyn Smith | 75-75-78-75—303 |
| Janet Coles | 76-73-79-75—303 |
| Muffin Spencer-Devlin | 77-75-75-77—304 |
| Silvia Bertolaccini | 75-77-78-74—304 |
| Lauri Peterson | 77-75-76-77—305 |
| Sally Little | 73-74-82-76—305 |
| Betsy Barrett | 76-74-76-79—305 |
| Joan Pitcock | 73-75-80-78—306 |
| a-Dana Lofland | 74-76-77-79—306 |
| Tammy Fredrickson | 76-76-77-77—306 |
| Deborah Skinner | 76-75-79-77—307 |
| Caroline Pierce | 77-75-78-77—307 |
| Susan Tonkin | 74-76-76-82—308 |
| Debby Rhodes | 77-75-75-82—309 |
| a-Leslie Shannon | 74-75-82-80—311 |
| Lulong Radler | 79-73-80-81—313 |
| Margaret Kirsch | 76-74-81-82—313 |
Previous and next:
1986 U.S. Women's Open - 1988 U.S. Women's Open
Sources:
The Greenville (S.C.) News. "U.S. Women's Open scores," The Associated Press, July 28, 1987.
Toledo (Ohio) Blade. "Davies Takes Women's Open On Sixth Day of Tournament," The Associated Press, July 29, 1987.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champion, 1987, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1987.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, 1987, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1987.