1963 U.S. Women's Open Winner, Scores
Winner: Mary Mills, 289
Where it was played: Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio
Tournament dates: July 18-20, 1963
Leaders after first round: Mary Mills, Clifford Ann Creed, 71
Leader after second round: Mary Mills, 141
Leader after third round: Mary Mills, 216
What Happened in the 1963 U.S. Women's Open
Mary Mills turned pro in 1961, and her victory in the 1963 U.S. Women's Open was her very first on the LPGA Tour. She went on to win nine times total on the tour, including three majors overall. One year later Mills won the first of her two titles in the Women's PGA Championship (then known as the LPGA Championship), becoming just the fourth golfer to win both that major championship and the USWO.Mills and Clifford Ann Creed shared the first-round lead with 71s, but Mills' second-round 70 sent her to a three-stroke advantage at the midway point. Mills' 36-hole score of 141 was a U.S. Women's Open record at the time.
As was the norm at the time (and for a couple more years), the tournament ended on Saturday with the third and fourth rounds both played on that final day. Mills maintained her lead through the third round, then scored 73 in the final round for a 3-under-par total of 289.
She finished three strokes in front of the runners-up, Louise Suggs and Sandra Haynie. For Suggs, it was her tournament-record (a record she still shares today) fifth time finishing second. She was also runner-up in 1951, 1955, 1958 and 1959. For Haynie, it was the first of her three career runner-up finishes in the USWO. But Suggs also won this major twice (1949, 1952), and Haynie later won the 1974 U.S. Women's Open.
Tennis legend Althea Gibson made her debut in women's professional golf here, becoming the first African-American to play in U.S. Women's Open. She missed the cut by one stroke.
1963 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Mary Mills | 71-70-75-73—289 |
| Louise Suggs | 72-72-75-73—292 |
| Sandra Haynie | 75-72-73-72—292 |
| Clifford Ann Creed | 71-75-79-74—299 |
| Kathy Whitworth | 75-74-80-73—302 |
| Ruth Jessen | 72-78-77-75—302 |
| Murle Lindstrom | 83-75-74-71—303 |
| Patsy Hahn | 74-73-78-78—303 |
| Mary Lena Faulk | 75-73-76-79—303 |
| Kathy Cornelius | 76-75-77-75—303 |
| Betsy Rawls | 75-77-72-80—304 |
| Judy Kimball | 72-78-79-75—304 |
| a-Phyllis Preuss | 76-73-79-77—305 |
| Carol Mann | 75-76-78-76—305 |
| Marlene Hagge | 80-72-77-76—305 |
| Sandra Spuzich | 79-77-75-75—306 |
| Jacqueline Pung | 76-73-79-79—307 |
| Shirley Spork | 79-73-77-79—308 |
| Marilynn Smith | 75-76-76-81—308 |
| Betty Jameson | 75-79-80-75—309 |
| a-Sally Carroll | 77-78-80-75—310 |
| Sybil Griffin | 79-76-78-78—311 |
| Shirley Englehorn | 77-79-78-77—311 |
| Gail Davis | 78-72-84-77—311 |
| a-Helen Wilson | 81-72-79-80—312 |
| Sandra McClinton | 82-75-76-79—312 |
| a-Margaret Jones | 81-76-75-80—312 |
| JoAnn Prentice | 77-75-83-79—314 |
| Beth Stone | 75-81-80-79—315 |
| Andrea Cohn | 75-78-86-76—315 |
| Patty Berg | 77-79-78-81—315 |
| a-Judy Rand | 79-77-80-80—316 |
| Gloria Armstrong | 81-78-76-81—316 |
| Judy Torluemke | 77-80-79-81—317 |
| a-Brenda High | 84-74-78-82—318 |
| Phyllis Germain | 80-78-81-81—320 |
| Gloria Fecht | 77-80-83-81—321 |
| a-Doris Phillips | 78-80-81-83—322 |
| a-Marcella Rose | 79-76-83-85—323 |
| Amelia Amizich | 82-77-90-77—326 |
Sources:
Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal. "Althea Gibson to Play Pro Golf Circuit," Associated Press, December 13, 1963, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CDQsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6MsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7264%2C2172770.
Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman-Review. "Mary Ties Marks, Leads Gals' Open," Associated Press, July 20, 1963, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ycxYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5525%2C1386742.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1963, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1963.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, 1963, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1963.
