1956 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores

The 1956 U.S. Women's Open was the 11th time this major championship was played. The winner was playing it for the first time, and she won it by beating an amateur golfer in an 18-hole playoff.

Winner: Kathy Cornelius, 302

Where it was played: Northland Country Club in Duluth, Minnesota

Tournament dates: July 26-29, 1956

Leader after first round: Kathy Cornelius, 73

Leader after second round: Marlene Bauer Hagge, 148

Leaders after third round: Kathy Cornelius, Marlene Bauer Hagge, 223

What Happened in the 1956 U.S. Women's Open

Amateur Barbara McIntire staged a huge comeback in the final round to force a playoff before Kathy Cornelius emerged from that playoff as the winner of the 1956 U.S. Women's Open. Cornelius, 23 years old and a recent mother, became the second golfer to win this title in her first appearance in the tournament. And McIntire, age 21, held the distinction of being the amateur who came closest to winning until amateur Catherine Lacoste's victory in the 1967 U.S. Women's Open.

A few tournament records were set or tied in this USWO that still stand today:

• The 302 winning score is tied for highest in the tournament's history.
• McIntire started the final round eight strokes off the lead, and still holds the record for largest final-round comeback to tie.
• Cornelius' 79 still shares the record for highest final-round score by the winner.

Cornelius took a one-stroke lead following a first-round 73. She scored 77 in Round 2 and slipped two behind Marlene Bauer Hagge. McIntire was six off the lead after 36 holes. After the third round, Cornelius and Hagge were tied for the lead, while McIntire fell eight off the pace.

But in the final round, Cornelius struggled to that 79, while Hagge was a stroke worse at 80. But McIntire, playing well in front of the two third-round leaders, scored 71, tied for lowest round of the tournament. When McIntire finished the last three holes scoring birdie-par-eagle, she posted 302. Cornelius got down in two on the last green to tie and force the playoff, but Hagge couldn't do the same and finished second, tied with Patty Berg, one stroke out of the playoff.

In the 18-hole playoff, Cornelius held a one-stroke lead after nine holes. But she opened some space by scoring 35 on the back nine to McIntire's 41. In the end, Cornelius won the playoff, and the trophy, by seven strokes.

Cornelius played the LPGA Tour in the 1980s and finished with eight wins. In 1981, her daughter Kay won the U.S. Girls' Junior, making the Corneliuses the first mother-daughter pair to both win USGA championships. McIntire never turned pro. She went on to win the U.S. Women's Amateur twice and the British Ladies Amateur once, played in the Curtis Cup six times, and served as a Curtis Cup captain twice.

1956 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores

Kathy Cornelius	73-77-73-79—302 (75)
a-Barbara McIntire	75-79-77-71—302 (82)
Marlene Hagge	74-74-75-80—303
Patty Berg	78-75-76-74—303
Joyce Ziske	76-74-79-76—305
Marilynn Smith	76-78-78-74—306
Louise Suggs	76-73-80-78—307
Betty Jameson	77-75-78-77—307
Mickey Wright	77-80-78-73—308
Mary Faulk	75-75-81-78—309
Fay Crocker	82-80-76-71—309
Beverly Hanson	74-77-79-80—310
Betsy Rawls	82-77-78-77—314
Peggy Bell	79-78-78-79—314
a-Ruth Jessen	85-77-81-74—317
a-Patricia Lesser	77-81-81-80—319
Betty Dodd	80-85-76-78—319
a-Judy Bell	83-77-80-80—320
Gloria Armstrong	79-81-80-82—322
Bonnie Randolph	82-77-83-81—323
a-Wanda Sanches	80-88-76-81—325
Phyllis Germain	83-81-84-78—326
Gloria Fecht	80-87-82-78—327
a-Nan Berry	84-80-80-83—327
a-Jacqueline Yates	84-78-79-87—328
a-Mary Janssen	80-84-80-84—328
a-Ann Johnstone	82-81-85-82—330
a-Beverly Gammon	85-86-79-81—331
Vonnie Colby	83-80-84-85—332
Diane Garrett	89-84-86-80—339
a-Virginia Dennehy	90-83-79-87—339
a-Jean Hopkins	86-82-86-89—343
JoAnn Prentice	84-90-88-83—345
a-Judy Kimball	82-98-87-80—347
a-Mrs. George Crane	93-82-89-86—350
a-Marlene Miller	89-90-85-87—351
a-Katherine Reichert	87-89-85-93—354

Sources:
Klobuchar, Jim. "Florida Girl Tops U.S. Women's Open With Sparkling 73," The Tampa (Fla.) Times, July 27, 1956.
Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman-Review. "Birdies Give Hagge National Open Lead," The Associated Press, July 28, 1956.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1956, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1956.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, 1956, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1956.