1975 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Sandra Palmer, 295
Where it was played: Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, New Jersey
Tournament dates: July 17-20, 1975
Leaders after first round: Judy Rankin, 72
Leader after second round: a-Nancy Lopez, Sandra Post, 147
Leader after third round: Sandra Post, Sally Little, Sandra Palmer, 223
What Happened in the 1975 U.S. Women's Open
Despite opening with a 78, Sandra Palmer went on to the victory in the 1975 U.S. Women's Open. Her first-round 78 remains tied for the second-highest first-round score ever by a golfer who went on to win this tournament. It was Palmer's second career win in a major, the 11th of her eventual 19 wins on the LPGA Tour.One of the three golfers who finished tied for second place was an 18-year-old amateur and recent high school graduate named Nancy Lopez. Lopez was the co-leader, with Sandra Post, following the second round. She fell one off the lead following the third round, and a 75 in the final round left Lopez tied with Post and JoAnne Carner, four behind champion Palmer. It was the first of four career runner-up finishes for future Hall of Famer Lopez in the U.S. Women's Open, a tournament she never won. (It was also the first of five career second-place USWO finishes for Carner, but Carner was already a USWO champ and would win it again the following year by beating Palmer in a playoff.)
Palmer surged into a tie for the lead with a 71 in Round 3, one of just two sub-par rounds in the entire tournament. She added an even-par 72 in the final round to win by four.
Betsy King and Amy Alcott, both future U.S. Women's Open champions, made their debuts in the tournament this year. And Betsy Rawls, one of two (at the time) four-time winners of the USWO, played it for the last time.
This was the third time Atlantic City Country Club was the site of a U.S. Women's Open, making it the first golf course to host the tournament three times.
1975 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Sandra Palmer | 78-74-71-72—295 |
| Sandra Post | 74-73-76-76—299 |
| a-Nancy Lopez | 73-74-77-75—299 |
| JoAnne Carner | 73-77-74-75—299 |
| Susie McAllister | 79-75-74-72—300 |
| Sandra Haynie | 74-77-74-76—301 |
| Kathy Whitworth | 76-76-75-75—302 |
| Debbie Austin | 76-76-72-79—303 |
| Judy Rankin | 72-77-79-76—304 |
| Sally Little | 80-70-73-81—304 |
| Jocelyne Bourassa | 77-76-75-76—304 |
| Gerda Boykin | 78-78-75-74—305 |
| Maria Astrologes | 81-73-79-72—305 |
| Jane Blalock | 75-76-80-75—306 |
| Laura Baugh | 76-74-76-80—306 |
| Donna Young | 81-74-77-75—307 |
| Diane Patterson | 75-74-79-79—307 |
| Pat Bradley | 78-77-78-74—307 |
| Beth Stone | 76-75-77-80—308 |
| Kathy McMullen | 80-76-75-77—308 |
| Mary Crocker | 79-76-73-80—308 |
| Amy Alcott | 75-76-74-83—308 |
| Kathy Postlewait | 75-76-82-76—309 |
| a-Barbara Barrow | 79-76-76-78—309 |
| Marilyn Smith | 79-78-75-78—310 |
| Sue Roberts | 78-79-76-77—310 |
| a-Debbie Massey | 81-72-75-82—310 |
| Gloria Ehret | 81-76-79-74—310 |
| Silvia Bertolaccini | 77-78-79-76—310 |
| Judy Kimball | 73-83-79-76—311 |
| a-Peggy Conley | 78-80-74-79—311 |
| Mardell Wilkins | 80-78-75-79—312 |
| Betsy Cullen | 76-77-80-80—313 |
| Mary Canney | 77-80-77-79—313 |
| Kathy Ahern | 76-82-77-78—313 |
| Jan Stephenson | 79-78-79-78—314 |
| a-Carol Semple | 80-78-77-79—314 |
| a-Donna Horton | 81-77-78-78—314 |
| Michael Skala | 79-79-77-80—315 |
| a-Beth Barry | 80-78-76-81—315 |
| Mary Mills | 81-75-80-80—316 |
| Mary Wolfe | 81-76-81-79—317 |
| Shelley Hamlin | 77-81-79-80—317 |
| Kathy Martin | 77-80-80-81—318 |
| Joyce Kazmierski | 81-75-84-80—320 |
| Pam Barnett | 79-78-79-84—320 |
| a-Martha Jones | 81-77-84-79—321 |
| LeNore Beserra | 82-76-88-75—321 |
| Janet Aulisi | 78-77-90-77—322 |
| Pam Higgins | 75-82-87-79—323 |
Sources:
Austin (Tex.) American-Statesman. "U.S. Women's Open scores," Associated Press, July 20, 1975.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1975, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1975.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, 1975, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1975.