1976 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
The 1976 U.S. Women's Open was the 31st time this major championship was played. JoAnne Carner won it, beating defending champion Sandra Palmer in an 18-hole playoff.
Winner: JoAnne Carner, 292
Where it was played: Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pennsylvania
Tournament dates: July 8-12, 1976
Leader after first round: Connie Chillemi, 69
Leader after second round: JoAnne Carner, 142
Leader after third round: Sandra Palmer, 217
What Happened in the 1976 U.S. Women's Open
JoAnne Carner and Sandra Palmer finished tied on 292, then played an 18-hole playoff the following day. In the end, Carner won by two strokes for her second victory in the U.S. Women's Open.Carner took the lead after the second round, two in front of Palmer. They switched places — Palmer two ahead of Carner — at the end of the third round. In the fourth round, Carner scored 73 to Palmer's 75. They both birdied the 71st hole and parred the 72nd.
In the playoff, Carner went ahead from the first hole and led by four after the 12th. But by the 17th hole, Palmer had taken a one-stroke lead. Carner evened it with a birdie on that 17th, then won it with a birdie to Palmer's bogey on the last hole. Carner scored 76 and Palmer 78 in the playoff.
This wasn't just Carner's second USWO victory, after her first in 1971. It was also her eighth overall win in a USGA championship — the most by any woman and, at the time, second only to Bobby Jones' nine USGA wins. During her amateur days, Carner won one U.S. Girls' Junior and five U.S. Women's Amateur titles. She remains the only person to win all three of the U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Women's Amateur, and U.S. Women's Open tournaments.
Betsy King, who went on to win the USWO in 1989 and 1990, played this tournament for the first time. It was her major championship debut. She tied for eighth place, earning low-amateur honors.
Marilynn Smith, one of the 13 original LPGA founders, played the U.S. Women's Open for the 29th consecutive year. At the time, that was the tournament record (since broken). Her streak ended the following year, and she played the USWO only once more.
Amateur Nancy Porter made a hole-in-one during the second round, just the fourth ace recorded to this point in USWO history. Remarkably, Porter (whose mother, Dorothy Porter, was also a famous amateur) had also made one of the earlier three.
1976 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| JoAnne Carner | 71-71-77-73—292 (76) |
| Sandra Palmer | 70-74-73-75—292 (78) |
| Jane Blalock | 75-72-73-76—296 |
| Susie McAllister | 76-78-70-73—297 |
| Sharon Miller | 75-75-77-72—299 |
| Amy Alcott | 72-75-78-74—299 |
| Silvia Bertolaccini | 78-73-74-75—300 |
| a-Betsy King | 76-74-76-77—303 |
| Susie Berning | 73-76-79-75—303 |
| Carole Jo Skala | 78-77-72-78—305 |
| a-Carol Semple | 71-77-82-75—305 |
| a-Debbie Massey | 75-74-74-82—305 |
| JoAnn Washam | 75-77-74-80—306 |
| Hisako Matsui | 72-77-78-79—306 |
| Joyce Kazmierski | 74-75-81-76—306 |
| Gloria Ehret | 77-75-76-78—306 |
| Jan Stephenson | 79-76-75-77—307 |
| Sandra Spuzich | 76-78-74-79—307 |
| Judy Rankin | 79-75-79-74—307 |
| Peggy Conley | 74-80-77-76—307 |
| Betty Burfeindt | 77-74-76-80—307 |
| Pat Bradley | 74-71-81-81—307 |
| Ai-Yu Tu | 79-77-76-76—308 |
| Hollis Stacy | 75-80-75-78—308 |
| Bonnie Lauer | 73-80-77-78—308 |
| Sandra Post | 74-80-77-78—309 |
| Judy Kimball | 76-76-76-81—309 |
| Marlene Hagge | 76-78-77-78—309 |
| Mary Crocker | 70-80-81-78—309 |
| Mary Mills | 75-77-77-81—310 |
| Connie Chillemi | 69-84-78-79—310 |
| a-Nancy Porter | 76-77-76-82—311 |
| Laura Baugh | 75-75-81-80—311 |
| Masako Sasaki | 83-73-79-77—312 |
| JoAnn Prentice | 77-79-80-76—312 |
| Marlene Floyd | 77-77-81-77—312 |
| Clifford Ann Creed | 77-77-79-79—312 |
| a-Barbara Barrow | 79-77-82-74—312 |
| Beth Stone | 75-79-80-79—313 |
| a-Lauren Howe | 74-79-81-79—313 |
| Mary Horner | 80-74-80-79—313 |
| Jocelyne Bourassa | 78-77-77-81—313 |
| a-Nancy Roth Syms | 77-78-79-80—314 |
| Kathy Postlewait | 80-75-82-78—315 |
| Marilyn Smith | 78-78-82-78—316 |
| Penny Pulz | 79-75-85-78—317 |
| Janet Aulisi | 83-73-84-79—319 |
| Maria Astrologes | 77-76-80-86—319 |
| Mary Canney | 76-76-86-82—320 |
| a-Lida Kinnicutt | 75-79-86-85—325 |
Sources:
Bryan-College Station (Tex.) Eagle. U.S. Women's Open Scores, July 10, 1976.
Ladies Professional Golf Association. 2004 LPGA Media Guides, Player Biographies, Betsy King.
The Pittsburgh (Pa.) Press. U.S. Women's Open Scores, July 11, 1976.
The Tampa (Fla.) Times. U.S. Women's Open Scores, July 9, 1976.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1976, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1976.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, 1976, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1976.