1983 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
The 1983 U.S. Women's Open was the 38th time this major championship was played. But it was the first time the winner was an Australian golfer.
Winner: Jan Stephenson, 290
Where it was played: Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Tournament dates: July 28-31, 1983
Leaders after first round: Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, 71
Leader after second round: Patty Sheehan, 142
Leader after third round: Jan Stephenson, 216
What Happened in the 1983 U.S. Women's Open
Australia-born Jan Stephenson won the 1983 U.S. Women's Open by one stroke over runners-up JoAnne Carner and Patty Sheehan, holding on after taking a 2-stroke lead into the final round.For Stephenson, it was the 12th win of her LPGA Tour career, and her third major championship victory. She became the first Australian winner of the U.S. Women's Open, and just the third non-American champ in this major. (Fay Crocker of Uruguay and Catherine Lacoste of France preceded her.)
Stephenson started the final round two strokes ahead of Sheehan and Debbie Meisterlin, with Carner — who shot 81 in the first round — seven strokes back. Meisterlin was never a factor, though, with a final-round 83.
Stephenson double-bogeyed the third hole in the final round, but played steady golf after that. With two holes left, she led Carner and Sheehan by three. Carner wound up scoring 68 and Sheehan 73, but Stephenson's 74 was good enough to hold on for the win.
It was the fourth time Carner finished second in this major, and she did so a record-tying fifth time in the 1987 U.S. Women's Open. It was the first of three times Sheehan was USWO runner-up. Carner and Sheehan also won the U.S. Women's Open twice each.
LPGA legend Kathy Whitworth scored 76 in the second round, but her marker miscalculated and gave her a 73. Whitworth caught the error after the round, but only after she had already signed the scorecard. She reported the mistake to the USGA and was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.
Played in Oklahoma in July, this version of the USWO is one remembered for scorching temperatures that topped 100F each day of play.
1983 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Jan Stephenson | 72-73-71-74—290 |
| Patty Sheehan | 71-71-76-73—291 |
| JoAnne Carner | 81-70-72-68—291 |
| Patti Rizzo | 75-74-73-70—292 |
| Cathy Morse | 76-71-77-69—293 |
| Myra Van Hoose | 77-72-72-73—294 |
| Dorothy Germain | 73-72-76-73—294 |
| Ayako Okamoto | 77-73-75-70—295 |
| Jane Lock | 75-73-72-75—295 |
| Pat Bradley | 72-76-71-76—295 |
| Rosie Jones | 76-74-73-73—296 |
| a-Heather Farr | 78-69-73-76—296 |
| Judy Clark | 79-76-70-71—296 |
| Amy Alcott | 75-74-71-76—296 |
| Muffin Spencer-Devlin | 78-76-70-73—297 |
| Lauren Howe | 72-73-74-78—297 |
| Janet Coles | 72-75-75-75—297 |
| Jane Blalock | 77-75-70-75—297 |
| Valerie Skinner | 79-71-75-73—298 |
| Sherrin Galbraith | 75-75-73-75—298 |
| Donna White | 77-74-73-75—299 |
| Becky Pearson | 72-75-75-77—299 |
| Juli Inkster | 72-79-74-74—299 |
| Cynthia Hill | 79-71-73-76—299 |
| Sandra Haynie | 74-74-74-77—299 |
| Lori Garbacz | 73-79-73-74—299 |
| Dale Eggeling | 79-73-74-73—299 |
| Stephanie Farwig | 73-75-75-77—300 |
| Martha Nause | 79-71-74-77—301 |
| Barbara Mizrahie | 79-74-73-75—301 |
| Debbie Meisterlin | 72-73-73-83—301 |
| Hollis Stacy | 78-74-72-78—302 |
| Yuko Moriguchi | 76-77-73-76—302 |
| Betsy King | 71-78-78-75—302 |
| Mindy Moore | 79-74-79-71—303 |
| Alice Miller | 79-75-74-75—303 |
| Vicki Fergon | 75-76-78-74—303 |
| Beth Boozer | 78-75-77-73—303 |
| Kathy Baker | 74-76-75-78—303 |
| a-Sherri Steinhauer | 76-77-76-75—304 |
| a-Kathleen McCarthy | 74-74-79-77—304 |
| Therese Hession | 77-77-73-77—304 |
| Judy Ellis | 80-75-77-72—304 |
| a-Cindy Davis | 79-72-76-77—304 |
| Beverley Davis | 76-77-73-78—304 |
| Jane Crafter | 75-76-73-80—304 |
| Peggy Conley | 73-81-74-76—304 |
| a-Mary Widman | 73-73-79-80—305 |
| a-Lancy Smith | 78-78-71-78—305 |
| a-Jody Rosenthal | 78-76-76-77—307 |
| Julie Pyne | 82-74-70-81—307 |
| Lenore Muraoka | 73-79-75-80—307 |
| Debbie Hall | 76-79-75-77—307 |
| Marta Figueras-Dotti | 78-75-76-78—307 |
| Carole Charbonnier | 74-78-76-79—307 |
| Vicki Tabor | 78-78-76-76—308 |
| Beverly Klass | 77-78-76-77—308 |
| Sandra Palmer | 77-77-81-74—309 |
| Gerda Boykin | 81-73-79-76—309 |
| Brenda Goldsmith | 80-76-75-80—311 |
| Sue Ertl | 75-78-75-83—311 |
| Pia Nilsson | 78-78-78-79—313 |
| Barbara Thomas | 75-81-80-78—314 |
| Kim Eaton | 77-79-77-81—314 |
| Dianne Dailey | 81-75-78-80—314 |
| Mina Rodriguez | 74-78-83-81—316 |
Sources:
Ann Arbor (Mich.) News. U.S. Women's Open Scores, July 31, 1983.
Bryan-College Station (Tex.) Eagle. Scoreboard, Golf, U.S. Women's Open scores, July 29, 1983.
Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune. "Sheehan Leads Open By 3," The Associated Press, July 30, 1983.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champion, 1983, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1983.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, 1983, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1983.