1957 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Betsy Rawls, 299
Where it was played: Winged Foot Golf Club (East Course) in Mamaroneck, New York
Tournament dates: June 27-29, 1957
Leaders after first round: Marlene Bauer Hagge, Alice Bauer, 72
Leader after second round: Alice Bauer, 145
Leader after third round: Betsy Rawls, 223
What Happened in the 1957 U.S. Women's Open
The 1957 U.S. Women's Open started with two sisters (and LPGA co-founders) sharing the first-round lead, and ended with a disqualification that changed the name of the winner. It was Betsy Rawls who emerged as that winner as the only player to finish in fewer than 300 strokes — the only one who didn't get DQ'd, anyway. Rawls previously won in 1951 and 1953. When she won again in the 1960 U.S. Women's Open, she became this event's first four-time champion.The first-round co-leaders were the Bauer sisters, Marlene Bauer Hagge and Alice Bauer. In 1950, they had been among the 13 co-founders of the LPGA. In 1957 they were not on the best of terms, however, because Marlene was married to Robert von Hagge, the man Alice had divorced! (Marlene eventually divorced him, too.) But Marlene had an 81 in Round 2 and Alice (who was the solo leader after 36 holes) an 87 in Round 3, and they wound up tied for sixth place.
Rawls was in second place, three behind Alice Bauer, following the second round. With a 76 in the third round, Rawls took the lead at 223. Jackie Pung was three strokes behind at 226.
In the final round, Pung, playing behind Rawls, watched Rawls shoot 76 and post a 299 total. But Pung scored 72 to catch and pass Rawls, and finished at 298 as the apparent champ. For nearly an hour, everyone thought Pung was the winner. Then the scorecard error was caught.
Pung's playing partner and marker, Betty Jameson, had incorrectly written down a 5 on Pung's scorecard for the fourth hole, when Pung actually made a 6 there. The mistake did not affect Pung's final score — 298 was the correct score, the actual, total strokes she played. But Pung signed an incorrect scorecard, and when the mistake was caught she was disqualified and Rawls became the champion. (Oddly, Pung made the exact same mistake on Jameson's scorecard, and Jameson was also disqualified. Jameson's 314 total, though, would only have put her in 13th place.)
Spectators and members at Winged Foot, the host club, immediately began passing the hat for Pung. Eventually they raised $3,000 for her, which was $1,200 more than Rawls got as the crowned winner. Rawls got one of her earlier USWO titles (1953) by beating Pung in a playoff.
Ninety-eight golfers started the tournament, of whom a record 68 were amateurs (meaning only 30 professionals started the first round). Only 19 of those amateurs made the cut, however.
1957 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Betsy Rawls | 74-74-75-76—299 |
| Patty Berg | 80-77-73-75—305 |
| Louise Suggs | 76-81-75-76—308 |
| Betty Hicks | 75-77-76-80—308 |
| Betty Dodd | 74-78-76-82—310 |
| JoAnn Prentice | 75-78-84-74—311 |
| Marlene Hagge | 72-81-81-77—311 |
| Alice Bauer | 72-73-87-79—311 |
| Beverly Hanson | 78-76-79-79—312 |
| Fay Crocker | 78-81-75-78—312 |
| Wiffi Smith | 81-76-79-77—313 |
| a-Barbara McIntire | 78-77-82-76—313 |
| Mary Lena Faulk | 76-79-83-75—313 |
| a-Marlene Streit | 79-79-75-82—315 |
| a-Anne Richardson | 78-76-83-79—316 |
| a-Judy Frank | 80-79-81-76—316 |
| Bonnie Randolph | 78-83-75-81—317 |
| Peggy Bell | 78-78-78-83—317 |
| Marilynn Smith | 77-80-79-84—320 |
| Gloria Armstrong | 73-85-84-78—320 |
| a-Carolyn Cudone | 80-80-82-79—321 |
| Joyce Ziske | 80-80-80-82—322 |
| Mickey Wright | 79-82-81-80—322 |
| a-Meriam Bailey | 81-80-79-84—324 |
| Ruth Jessen | 85-83-80-77—325 |
| Gloria Fecht | 83-81-81-80—325 |
| Vonnie Colby | 78-86-80-81—325 |
| a-Helen Wilson | 77-80-89-81—327 |
| a-Mary Janssen | 81-79-84-83—327 |
| Kathy Cornelius | 81-79-83-85—328 |
| a-Roslyn Berger | 83-82-84-80—329 |
| a-Marge Mason | 82-84-81-83—330 |
| a-Mary Downey | 88-80-78-84—330 |
| a-Alice Dye | 87-81-82-82—332 |
| a-Nan Berry | 85-79-85-85—334 |
| a-Mrs. Norman Woolworth | 83-85-85-86—339 |
| a-Mrs. Charles Spalding | 84-83-89-85—341 |
| a-Mrs. Reinert Torgerson | 83-82-88-90—343 |
| a-Mrs. John Barry | 85-83-92-84—344 |
| a-Constance Gorsuch | 83-85-87-90—345 |
| a-Terry Logan | 81-87-87-95—350 |
Sources:
Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard. "Scorecard Mistake Costs Pung Crown," Associated Press, June 30, 1957, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hPlVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q-IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6685%2C5121222.
St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. "Alice Bauer takes over Open Lead," Associated Press, June 29, 1957, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Vg5SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NXYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3466%2C6247206.
Toledo (Ohio) Blade. "Finsterwald leads Western Open; Bauer sisters pace gals," Associated Press, June 28, 1957, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vLdOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yAAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7159%2C4443619.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1957, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1957.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, 1957, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1957.
