1951 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Betsy Rawls, 293
Where it was played: Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia
Tournament dates: September 13-15, 1951
Leader after first round: Babe Didrikson Zaharias, 70
Leader after second round: Betsy Rawls, 144
Leader after third round: Betsy Rawls, 218
What Happened in the 1951 U.S. Women's Open
Betsy Rawls claimed the trophy at the 1951 U.S. Women's Open one year after having been the tournament's low amateur, making her the first USWO golfer to go on to a later victory after previously earning low amateur honors.It was the first of four wins in this major for Rawls, who also won in 1953, 1957 and 1960. When she won the 1960 U.S. Women's Open, Rawls became the tournament's first four-time champion. But she was a rookie on the LPGA Tour when she teed off here in 1951, having turned pro (and soon won her first title) earlier in the year. Her victory here was her second on the LPGA (she eventually won 55 LPGA Tour titles, last in 1972), and the first of her eight career wins in major championships.
Rawls took a 3-stroke lead over second-place Babe Zaharias and Marlene Bauer into the final round, then scored 75 while Zaharias had 78 and Bauer 79. Louise Suggs closed with a 71, best score of the final round, to finish in second place, albeit five strokes behind Rawls. For Suggs, it was the first of a record five times she finished runner-up in a U.S. Women's Open (she also won twice).
Another first in the 1951 U.S. Women's Open: The tournament had its first hole-in-one. In the third round, amateur Martha Cowden aced the fourth hole, using a 3-iron on the 145-yard shot. Oddly, Cowden is not listed in the scores for the tournament provided by the USGA or any newspaper sources we can find, although the USGA's list of tournament records shows her ace. The Associated Press story about the hole-in-one notes that Cowden scored 88 for the round and her four-round total was 375, which was nearly 30 strokes worse than the last golfer listed in the scores below.
1951 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Betsy Rawls | 73-71-74-75—293 |
| Louise Suggs | 73-79-75-71—298 |
| Babe Zaharias | 70-78-73-78—299 |
| a-Pat Lesser | 75-74-74-77—300 |
| Marlene Bauer | 71-78-72-79—300 |
| Beverly Hanson | 78-75-70-79—302 |
| a-Dot Kirby | 75-76-75-77—303 |
| Patty Berg | 74-75-77-79—305 |
| a-Kathy McKinnon | 73-80-73-80—306 |
| a-Mary Lena Faulk | 74-76-78-78—306 |
| a-Polly Riley | 72-79-81-75—307 |
| a-Pat Garner | 80-75-77-77—309 |
| Alice Bauer | 80-75-77-77—309 |
| Marilynn Smith | 79-79-77-76—311 |
| Betty Jameson | 76-79-79-77—311 |
| a-Barbara Romack | 79-81-73-81—314 |
| a-Claire Doran | 75-77-81-84—317 |
| a-Betty Dodd | 77-84-78-79—318 |
| Peggy Kirk | 80-80-82-77—319 |
| Helen Dettweiler | 80-82-80-78—320 |
| Sally Sessions | 76-87-78-80—321 |
| a-Pat Grant | 79-81-80-81—321 |
| Betty Bush | 78-83-83-78—322 |
| a-Mary Wall | 77-82-76-90—325 |
| Betty MacKinnon | 81-81-79-85—326 |
| a-Bettye Danoff | 77-87-84-79—327 |
| a-Eileen Stulb | 83-77-85-83—328 |
| Shirley Spork | 78-89-80-81—328 |
| a-Rylma Strevel | 83-83-86-83—335 |
| a-Minnie Ashley | 81-87-87-81—336 |
| a-George Wilcox | 82-88-83-84—337 |
| Barbara Canine | 88-83-86-81—338 |
| a-Barbara Kilgore | 81-81-84-93—339 |
| Opal Hill | 83-87-86-83—339 |
| a-Helen Hampton | 82-87-80-91—340 |
| a-Marnie Polk | 84-85-88-86—343 |
| a-Mrs. Harold Stone | 88-89-84-84—345 |
| a-Frances Rich | 85-87-85-89—346 |
Sources:
Baltimore (Md.) Sun. "Betsy Rawls Wins Tourney," Associated Press, September 17, 1951.
Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune. "Martha Cowden Scores Ace in Meet," Associated Press, September 17, 1951.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1951, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1951.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, 1951, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1951.
