1971 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
Winner: JoAnne Carner, 288
Where it was played: Kahkwa Club in Erie, Pennsylvania
Tournament dates: June 24-27, 1971
Leaders after first round: JoAnne Carner, Donna Caponi, 70
Leader after second round: JoAnne Carner, 73
Leader after third round: JoAnne Carner, 215
What Happened in the 1971 U.S. Women's Open
JoAnne Carner earned her first LPGA major championship title with a 7-stroke romp in which she shared or held the lead after each round.The distant runner-up was Kathy Whitworth, and Carner finished 11 strokes in front of the quartet of third-place finishers that included Mickey Wright. For Wright, a 4-time USWO champ, it was her last Top 5 finish in any LPGA major (she played in only four more after this). Whitworth, who finished as the LPGA's all-time wins leader with 88, never won the USWO, and this was her only runner-up finish in this major.
Carner was tied with two-time defending champ Donna Caponi (who was among the third-place finishers) after the first round, but led outright after that. She took a 5-stroke lead into the final round.
This was the first of two USWO titles for Carner, who went on to win the 1976 U.S. Women's Open. It was just the third of her eventual 44 LPGA Tour victories.
Carner joined the list of golfers who won both the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Women's Open. But the victory made Carner the first golfer ever to win all three of the U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Women's Open titles. It was her seventh overall victory in a USGA championship.
Pat Bradley missed the cut as an amateur in her USWO and major championship debut. She went on to win six majors, including the 1981 U.S. Women's Open. Amateur Sally Little, a future 2-time major winner and 2-time U.S. Women's Open runner-up, made the cut in a major for the first time here, tying for 47th.
1971 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| JoAnne Carner | 70-73-72-73—288 |
| Kathy Whitworth | 73-77-73-72—295 |
| Mickey Wright | 73-75-75-76—299 |
| Donna Caponi | 70-75-77-77—299 |
| Jane Blalock | 75-73-74-77—299 |
| a-Jane Bastanchury | 72-77-76-74—299 |
| Lesley Holbert | 71-75-81-73—300 |
| Kathy Cornelius | 73-78-73-76—300 |
| a-Martha Wilkinson | 74-78-77-72—301 |
| a-Shelley Hamlin | 77-76-73-75—301 |
| Mary Mills | 75-72-73-82—302 |
| Murle Breer | 75-72-77-78—302 |
| Betsy Cullen | 76-76-76-75—303 |
| Gerda Boykin | 77-75-78-73—303 |
| Beth Stone | 74-77-73-80—304 |
| Carol Mann | 75-77-76-76—304 |
| Pam Higgins | 77-77-76-74—304 |
| Sandra Haynie | 75-78-78-73—304 |
| Marlene Hagge | 74-78-75-77—304 |
| Sandra Elliott | 79-77-76-72—304 |
| Marilynn Smith | 74-77-79-76—306 |
| Mary Daniel | 74-79-76-77—306 |
| JoAnn Prentice | 77-74-77-79—307 |
| a-Marlene Streit | 76-78-77-77—308 |
| Sharon Miller | 74-82-73-79—308 |
| Pam Barnett | 77-80-75-76—308 |
| Judy Kimball | 77-77-76-79—309 |
| Susie Berning | 80-76-77-76—309 |
| Sandra Spuzich | 78-81-75-76—310 |
| Barbara Myers | 78-81-73-78—310 |
| Hisako "Chako" Higuchi | 79-79-77-75—310 |
| Debbie Austin | 78-80-78-74—310 |
| Kathy Ahern | 78-79-74-79—310 |
| Louise Suggs | 81-74-77-79—311 |
| Sue Roberts | 78-81-77-75—311 |
| Betsy Rawls | 77-78-81-77—313 |
| Cynthia Sullivan | 77-80-78-79—314 |
| Carole Jo Skala | 79-74-80-81—314 |
| a-Dorothy Porter | 75-84-79-76—314 |
| Sandra Palmer | 79-78-78-79—314 |
| a-Connie Day | 80-76-78-80—314 |
| Clifford Ann Creed | 82-76-79-77—314 |
| a-Lancy Smith | 76-83-79-77—315 |
| a-Lida Matthews | 73-82-76-84—315 |
| Jan Ferraris | 77-80-82-77—316 |
| Sherry Wilder | 80-79-81-77—317 |
| a-Sally Little | 78-79-76-85—318 |
| Sharon Moran | 79-80-78-82—319 |
| Kathy McMullen | 80-77-81-82—320 |
| Janet Caponi | 76-79-86-79—320 |
| Gail Denenberg | 75-81-77-88—321 |
| DeDe Owens | 77-78-83-84—322 |
| Susan Little | 82-75-86-80—323 |
| Joyce Kazmierski | 79-80-81-83—323 |
Sources:
Ladies Professional Golf Association. 2004 LPGA Media Guide, Player Biographies, Pat Bradley.
Ladies Professional Golf Association. 2004 LPGA Media Guide, Player Biographies, Sally Little.
Ladies Professional Golf Association. 2004 LPGA Media Guide, Player Biographies, Kathy Whitworth.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1971, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1971.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, 1971, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1971.
