1968 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Susie Maxwell Berning, 289
Where it was played: Moselem Springs Golf Club in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania
Tournament dates: July 4-7, 1968
Leader after first round: Susie Maxwell Berning, 69
Leader after second round: Susie Maxwell Berning, 142
Leader after third round: Susie Maxwell Berning, 218
What Happened in the 1968 U.S. Women's Open
Susie Maxwell Berning had postponed her honeymoon — she got married seven weeks prior to the tournament — to prepare for the 1968 U.S. Women's Open. That focus paid off in a three-stroke victory.It was a wire-to-wire win, too, with Berning holding the outright lead after each round. She won the U.S. Women's Open again in 1972 and 1973 for three total victories. This was her fifth overall win (of an eventual 11) on the LPGA Tour.
Berning opened with a 69, one of just two sub-70 scores during the tournament. She held a four-stroke lead following the second round despite bogeys on each of the final three holes. A 76 in the third round reduced Berning's lead to two.
In the final round, Berning once again bogeyed all three of the final three holes but still carded a 71 (tied for second-lowest round of the day) and won on 289. That 71 tied the record at the time for lowest final-round score by the winner.
The tournament's other sub-70 score, and the low round of the tournament, was Mickey Wright's 68 in the final round. That moved her into a second-place finish, three behind Berning, after she started the last round six off the lead. Wright shared the U.S. Women's Open record of four victories, but this was the only time she was runner-up.
The defending champ, French amateur Catherine Lacoste, finished in 13th place.
1968 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Susie Berning | 69-73-76-71—289 |
| Mickey Wright | 70-78-76-68—292 |
| Marilynn Smith | 72-76-74-73—295 |
| Carol Mann | 71-76-73-75—295 |
| Kathy Whitworth | 75-74-73-74—296 |
| Murle Lindstrom | 73-73-75-75—296 |
| Clifford Ann Creed | 77-73-76-71—297 |
| Gerda Whalen | 75-72-79-73—299 |
| Sandra Spuzich | 75-75-78-72—300 |
| Judy Rankin | 75-76-74-75—300 |
| a-Phyllis Preuss | 73-76-73-78—300 |
| Sandra Post | 73-76-77-75—301 |
| a-Catherine Lacoste | 74-78-77-73—302 |
| Judy Kimball | 77-76-70-79—302 |
| a-Shelley Hamlin | 79-77-74-72—302 |
| Pam Barnett | 77-75-74-76—302 |
| a-Nancy Roth Syms | 77-79-75-72—303 |
| Sharron Moran | 78-73-78-74—303 |
| Mary Mills | 80-74-73-76—303 |
| Ruth Jessen | 72-77-77-77—303 |
| a-Dorothy Porter | 79-77-76-72—304 |
| Sandra Palmer | 76-77-76-75—304 |
| Jane Woodworth | 75-80-78-72—305 |
| JoAnn Prentice | 74-75-81-75—305 |
| Sandra Haynie | 78-78-72-77—305 |
| Mary Daniel | 82-73-73-77—305 |
| Betsy Cullen | 77-76-78-74—305 |
| Donna Caponi | 76-79-76-74—305 |
| a-Anne Welts | 78-74-76-78—306 |
| Louise Suggs | 75-76-77-78—306 |
| Margie Masters | 77-73-74-82—306 |
| Sybil Griffin | 75-75-79-77—306 |
| Gail Davis | 75-76-82-73—306 |
| Patty Berg | 75-77-78-76—306 |
| Linda Craft | 75-77-78-77—307 |
| Betsy Rawls | 74-76-79-79—308 |
| Sharon Miller | 79-76-77-76—308 |
| Kathly Ahern | 76-78-76-79—309 |
| Althea Darben | 78-77-78-78—311 |
| a-Helen Wilson | 79-77-79-80—315 |
| a-Roberta Albers | 75-80-81-79—315 |
| a-Lancy Smith | 79-76-82-80—317 |
| Lesley Holbert | 81-73-85-82—321 |
| a-Alice Dye | 79-76-87-79—321 |
Sources:
Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat. "Sue Maxwell Clings to Open Lead," Universal Press International, July 7, 1968.
Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman-Review. "Susie Shoots 73, Ahead by Four," Associated Press, July 6, 1968, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ar5YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z-kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4450%2C1481286.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1968, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1968.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, 1968, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1968.
