1990 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
The 1990 U.S. Women's Open was the 45th time this major championship was played. The winner emerged after a 36-hole final day with her second consecutive victory in this tournament.
Winner: Betsy King, 284
Where it was played: Atlanta Athletic Club (Riverside Course) in Johns Creek, Georgia
Tournament dates: July 12-15, 1990
Leader after first round: Jane Geddes, Patty Sheehan, 66
Leader after second round: Patty Sheehan, 134
Leader after third round: Patty Sheehan, 209
What Happened in the 1990 U.S. Women's Open
With rains delaying play and the second round not finishing until the third day, the 1990 U.S. Women's Open ended with a 36-hole slog over a wet course in humid conditions on the final day. The Sports Illustrated story about the tournament was headlined "Joyless Open." But at least one golfer had plenty of joy: Betsy King, who won this major the second year in a row.Not very happy in the end: Patty Sheehan. Sheehan shared or held the lead following each of the first three rounds. Her lead was six at the 36-hole mark, she became the first golfer to reach 10-under-par in a USWO, and her 134 was the tournament's then-record for 36 holes. Sheehan's lead reached eight strokes over the field and 11 strokes over King at one point early in the third round. But then she started wilting in the challenging conditions of that 36-hole final day. Sheehan scored 75 in Round 3 — ending with a double-bogey on No. 18 — and her lead was down to four, with King five behind.
Over one 14-hole stretch that started on the back nine of the third round and carried into the front nine of her final round, Sheehan was 8-over par.
In the final round, Sheehan tried to rally late. She birdied Nos. 14 and 15, tying King atop the leaderboard. But a bogey on the 17th sealed the outcome. In the end, Sheehan carded a 76 to King's 70, and King beat her by one stroke for the title.
King's victory after starting the final round five off the lead tied the tournament record for largest final-round comeback to win. It was her 22nd career LPGA Tour win, her second major championship trophy of the year (having earlier won the Nabisco Dinah Shore), and the fourth overall over her eventual six career wins in majors.
King was just the fifth golfer ever to win back-to-back U.S. Women's Opens, and the first since Hollis Stacy in 1977-78. King was also the sixth golfer in USWO history to win after having previously been the low amateur (which she was in the 1976 USWO).
For Sheehan, this was her third runner-up finish in the U.S. Women's Open, without any wins. But she later solved that issue. Sheehan went on to win this tournament in 1992 and 1994.
1990 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Betsy King | 72-71-71-70—284 |
| Patty Sheehan | 66-68-75-76—285 |
| Dottie Mochrie | 74-74-72-66—286 |
| Danielle Ammaccapane | 72-73-70-71—286 |
| Mary Murphy | 70-74-69-74—287 |
| Tammie Green | 70-74-73-71—288 |
| Beth Daniel | 71-71-74-72—288 |
| Elaine Crosby | 71-74-73-70—288 |
| Colleen Walker | 69-75-73-72—289 |
| Sherri Turner | 74-72-71-72—289 |
| Hollis Stacy | 71-72-77-69—289 |
| Meg Mallon | 71-71-77-70—289 |
| Caroline Keggi | 67-75-73-74—289 |
| Cathy Gerring | 70-78-70-71—289 |
| Amy Alcott | 72-72-72-73—289 |
| Missie McGeorge | 72-74-72-72—290 |
| Rosie Jones | 72-70-74-74—290 |
| JoAnne Carner | 73-71-70-77—291 |
| Alice Ritzman | 77-70-73-72—292 |
| Cindy Rarick | 73-74-70-75—292 |
| Nancy Lopez | 68-76-75-73—292 |
| Jane Geddes | 66-74-79-73—292 |
| Pat Bradley | 74-70-75-73—292 |
| Jody Anschutz | 72-73-74-73—292 |
| Donna Andrews | 75-72-73-72—292 |
| Barb Mucha | 74-72-75-72—293 |
| Cindy Figg Currier | 76-72-73-72—293 |
| Laura Davies | 73-73-74-73—293 |
| Kathy Postlewait | 75-74-75-70—294 |
| Debbie Massey | 70-73-75-76—294 |
| Allison Finney | 73-73-71-77—294 |
| Pamela Wright | 72-74-74-75—295 |
| Nancy Rubin | 71-72-76-76—295 |
| Deb Richard | 74-72-74-75—295 |
| Ayako Okamoto | 74-74-73-74—295 |
| Martha Nause | 75-71-76-73—295 |
| Cathy Morse | 73-75-74-73—295 |
| Hiromi Kobayashi | 75-72-73-75—295 |
| Shirley Furlong | 71-71-77-76—295 |
| Susan Sanders | 70-77-72-77—296 |
| Nancy Brown | 72-75-74-75—296 |
| Janet Anderson | 70-72-80-74—296 |
| Alison Nicholas | 75-73-74-75—297 |
| Cathy Marino | 71-77-78-71—297 |
| Gina Hull | 73-72-78-74—297 |
| Jackie Gallagher | 74-73-74-76—297 |
| Heather Drew | 75-74-74-74—297 |
| Jan Stephenson | 75-72-73-78—298 |
| Kris Tschetter | 70-75-79-75—299 |
| Joan Delk | 74-73-73-79—299 |
| Jerilyn Britz | 69-74-78-78—299 |
| Myra Blackwelder | 75-71-78-75—299 |
| Amy Benz | 74-75-76-74—299 |
| Liselotte Neumann | 73-74-78-75—300 |
| a-Vicki Goetze | 72-73-76-79—300 |
| Kay Cockerill | 76-72-76-76—300 |
| Caroline Pierce | 75-73-79-74—301 |
| a-Jennifer Myers | 71-76-79-75—301 |
| Vicki Fergon | 74-72-76-80—302 |
| a-Katie Peterson | 75-74-81-73—303 |
| Dale Eggeling | 75-73-75-81—304 |
| a-Kate Hughes | 76-73-81-77—307 |
| Nancy Harvey | 75-74-79-83—311 |
Previous and next:
1989 U.S. Women's Open - 1991 U.S. Women's Open
Sources:
Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard. "Sheehan sets 36-hole mark in the U.S. Women's Open," Associated Press, July 15, 1990, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lc4zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6OsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6982%2C3482484.
Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard. "King takes 2nd straight Open title," Associated Press, July 16, 1990, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ls4zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6OsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7107%2C3616505.
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.