1954 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Final Scores
Winner: Babe Zaharias, 291
Where it was played: Salem Country Club in Peabody, Massachusetts
Tournament dates: July 1-3, 1954
Leader after first round: Babe Zaharias, 72
Leader after second round: Babe Zaharias, 143
Leader after third round: Babe Zaharias, 216
What Happened in the 1954 U.S. Women's Open
Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the 1954 U.S. Women's Open, which turned out to be her last time playing this tournament, and the last of her 10 major championship victories. Zaharias missed the 1953 USWO following cancer surgery. And she missed the 1955 USWO after back surgery — back surgery that revealed the cancer had returned. She died late in 1956. (She did win three more LPGA tournaments after this, however: Her 1954 USWO title was the 38th of her 41 career LPGA wins.)Zaharias took the first-round lead with a 72, and she never trailed or was tied after that. She thus became the tournament's first wire-to-wire winner without any ties. She led by 10 strokes following Round 3, which remains today the U.S. Women's Open record for largest 54-hole lead. And her 12-stroke win is the second-largest margin of victory. The 71 Zaharias scored in Round 2 was the lowest score of the tournament.
Zaharias was 43 years and 7 days old at the time of this victory, and she remains today the oldest winner ever in the U.S. Women's Open. It was her third win in this major following victories in 1948 and 1950.
Of the 58 golfers who entered the 1954 USWO, only 21 were professionals. Of the 40 who completed all four rounds, more than half (22) were amateurs.
One of those amateurs was 19-year-old Mickey Wright, who finished tied for fourth place to earn low-amateur honors. It was her debut in this tournament, a tournament she went on to win four times.
1954 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Babe Zaharias | 72-71-73-75—291 |
| Betty Hicks | 75-76-75-77—303 |
| Louise Suggs | 76-77-78-76—307 |
| a-Mickey Wright | 74-79-79-76—308 |
| Betsy Rawls | 77-73-78-80—308 |
| Jacqueline Pung | 81-77-78-73—309 |
| a-Patricia Lesser | 79-73-78-80—310 |
| Beverly Hanson | 77-80-78-75—310 |
| a-Claire Doran | 72-79-80-80—311 |
| Fay Crocker | 77-82-79-73—311 |
| a-Mrs. Hugh Jones | 79-81-74-78—312 |
| Patty Berg | 78-76-78-81—313 |
| Betty Dodd | 77-77-78-82—314 |
| Bonnie Randolph | 82-81-74-79—316 |
| Betty Jameson | 78-78-80-80—316 |
| a-Mary Lena Faulk | 77-76-84-79—316 |
| Betty Bush | 79-79-83-75—316 |
| a-Joyce Ziske | 78-82-78-80—318 |
| Patricia O'Sullivan | 76-79-81-82—318 |
| Marilynn Smith | 83-75-79-82—319 |
| Betty MacKinnon | 78-80-82-80—320 |
| a-Helen Wilson | 80-82-84-76—322 |
| a-Jean Hopkins | 78-79-83-86—326 |
| a-Mrs. Edward McAuliffe | 82-83-81-84—330 |
| Bettye Danoff | 81-81-84-85—331 |
| a-Ellen Gery | 86-80-84-85—335 |
| a-Virginia Dennehy | 85-85-85-81—336 |
| a-Barbara Bruning | 83-84-88-81—336 |
| a-Mrs. Donald McClusky | 83-84-87-84—338 |
| a-Gloria Armstrong | 89-83-84-85—341 |
| a-Greta Leone | 88-84-89-84—345 |
| a-Mrs. James Parker | 82-86-90-88—346 |
| Francis Mahoney | 83-90-87-90—350 |
| a-Rose O'Neil | 85-93-84-89—351 |
| a-Theodora Rooney | 87-84-87-94—352 |
| Mrs. Herbert Breault | 90-87-84-91—352 |
| a-Joanne Goodwin | 85-86-94-88—353 |
| a-Ann Rutherford | 89-90-88-88—355 |
| a-Iris Kimball | 89-88-93-91—361 |
| a-Mrs. Donald Weiss | 88-86-93-96—363 |
Previous and next:
1953 U.S. Women's Open - 1955 U.S. Women's Open
Sources:
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1954, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1954.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, 1954, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1954.
