1965 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Carol Mann, 290
Where it was played: Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, New Jersey
Tournament dates: July 1-4, 1965
Leader after first round: Kathy Cornelius, 71
Leader after second round: Kathy Cornelius, 146
Leader after third round: Carol Mann, 218
What Happened in the 1965 U.S. Women's Open
An under-the-weather Carol Mann wound up over-the-moon after persevering to win the 1965 U.S. Women's Open. For Mann, 24 years old, it was her third LPGA Tour victory but second win in a major. Her first LPGA win happened one year earlier, and it was also a major at the time, the Women's Western Open. Mann went on to win 38 times total on the LPGA Tour but never again won a major.Kathy Cornelius, 1956 U.S. Women's Open champ, was the first-round leader with a 71. Mann was seven behind with a 78. And that 78 wound up tying the then-tournament record for highest score in the opening round by a golfer who went on to win.
Mann moved up to second with a 70 in Round 2, two off Cornelius' lead. With another 70 in Round 3, Mann took a four-stroke lead over Judy Torluemke (soon to be known as Judy Rankin) and Mary Mills. Cornelius' 77 dropped her five off the pace.
The Associated Press news article about the third round described Mann as "wheezing and gulping pills because of a severe chest cold." She said after the tournament she'd been suffering from a bad cold all week.
But she overcame it again in the final round with a solid 72 to win by two over Cornelius, who surged back with a 69. Mann needed to par the final hole to win, but closed it out with a birdie. Marilynn Smith finished third another two shots back.
For third-place finisher Smith, it was her 16th consecutive year finishing in the Top 25. The streak started in 1950 and ended after this year. That remains today the second-longest (behind Patty Berg's 17 years) streak of consecutive Top 25 finishes in USWO history.
Defending champion (and four-time winner) Mickey Wright did not play due to an injury. Sandra Palmer, the 1975 U.S. Women's Open champ, made her USWO debut here and tied for 15th. Margie Masters, the first Australian winner of the LPGA Tour, tied the tournament's then-scoring record of 67 in the final round and finished ninth.
Atlantic City Country Club, which previously hosted the 1948 U.S. Women's Open, became the first golf course to host this championship twice. The tournament was nationally broadcast on television for the first time this year.
1965 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Carol Mann | 78-70-70-72—290 |
| Kathy Cornelius | 71-75-77-69—292 |
| Marilynn Smith | 75-74-74-71—294 |
| Mary Mills | 76-76-70-73—295 |
| a-Helen Sigel Wilson | 78-72-75-71—296 |
| Susie Maxwell | 75-75-75-71—296 |
| Ruth Jessen | 77-76-71-75—299 |
| Louise Suggs | 76-77-71-76—300 |
| Margie Masters | 81-74-79-67—301 |
| Judy Torluemke | 76-74-72-80—302 |
| Clifford Ann Creed | 77-76-76-73—302 |
| Sandra Haynie | 80-76-77-70—303 |
| Marlene Hagge | 72-82-72-77—303 |
| a-Catherine Lacoste | 79-73-77-75—304 |
| a-Nancy Roth | 79-77-80-69—305 |
| Sandra Palmer | 76-81-77-71—305 |
| Andrea Cohn | 78-80-75-72—305 |
| Kathy Whitworth | 79-74-81-72—306 |
| Barbara Romack | 79-74-74-79—306 |
| Donna Caponi | 78-79-75-75—307 |
| a-Anne Welts | 74-79-76-79—308 |
| a-Marlene Streit | 79-73-80-77—309 |
| a-Betty Probasco | 80-74-76-79—309 |
| Patty Berg | 79-77-80-73—309 |
| Peggy Bell | 81-77-77-75—310 |
| Betsy Rawls | 75-79-74-83—311 |
| JoAnn Prentice | 80-77-74-80—311 |
| Judy Kimball | 82-75-78-76—311 |
| Gail Davis | 79-76-79-77—311 |
| Ann Johnstone | 82-76-77-78—313 |
| Sandra Spuzich | 81-78-79-76—314 |
| a-Sharon Miller | 79-80-76-80—315 |
| Betsy Cullen | 78-80-77-80—315 |
| a-Phyllis Preuss | 79-77-83-77—316 |
| a-Renee Powell | 82-77-79-78—316 |
| a-Jan Ferraris | 80-78-82-78—318 |
| a-Dorothy Porter | 82-77-82-78—319 |
| Gloria Armstrong | 77-81-82-79—319 |
| a-Loretta Perlstein | 78-80-76-87—321 |
| Sybil Griffin | 78-79-86-79—322 |
| a-Carla Glasgow | 79-79-86-83—327 |
Sources:
Green Bay (Wisc.) Press-Gazette. "Carol Mann Grabs National Open Top," Associated Press, July 4, 1965.
LPGA Tour. 2004 LPGA Tour Media Guide, Player Biographies, Sandra Palmer.
LPGA Tour. 2004 LPGA Tour Media Guide, Player Biographies, Marilynn Smith.
Spokane Spokesman-Review. "Cathy Cops Leads on Torrid Putting," Associated Press, July 2, 1965.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1965, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1965.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, 1965, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1965.
