1949 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Louise Suggs, 291
Where it was played: Prince George's Country Club in Landover, Maryland
Tournament dates: September 22-25, 1949
Leader after first round: Louise Suggs, 69
Leader after second round: Louise Suggs, 144
Leader after third round: Louise Suggs, 221
What Happened in the 1949 U.S. Women's Open
When Louise Suggs won the 1949 U.S. Women's Open by 14 strokes, it was the largest margin of victory in the tournament's history. Of course, the tournament had only existed since 1946. But today, that 14-stroke win still stands as the largest winning margin ever in the USWO.It was the first of two times Suggs won this championship; she also won the 1952 U.S. Women's Open. It was the fourth of her eventual 11 career wins in majors, and the sixth of her eventual 61 victories on the LPGA Tour.
Suggs led by three strokes after opening with a first-round 69, the lowest score of the entire tournament. Her lead was six over second-place Babe Zaharias following the second round. In the third round, Suggs scored 77 and lost two strokes off her lead, but was still four ahead of Zaharias.
In the final round, Suggs scored 70, the low round of the day and second-lowest score of the tournament. Zaharias ballooned to an 80, but still finished solo second despite the 14-stroke deficit.
Beginning with her win here, Suggs finished in the Top 10 in every U.S. Women's Open through 1963, a record-long streak of 15 consecutive Top 10 finishes.
Women professional golfers were still rare in 1949, as can been see in the scores below. Of the 31 golfers listed, only 10 were pros. And only six of the Top 20 finishers were pros.
1949 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Louise Suggs | 69-75-77-70—291 |
| Babe Zaharias | 74-76-75-80—305 |
| a-Carol Diringer | 75-76-77-78—306 |
| a-Dot Kielty | 74-83-76-77—310 |
| Patty Berg | 73-84-78-75—310 |
| a-Frances Stephens | 75-81-80-75—311 |
| a-Mae Murray | 78-78-79-76—311 |
| a-Beverly Hanson | 72-81-75-83—311 |
| a-Marlene Bauer | 75-78-78-80—311 |
| a-Polly Riley | 75-83-79-75—312 |
| a-Helen Sigel | 79-75-79-80—313 |
| a-Marjorie Lindsay | 80-81-76-77—314 |
| a-Grace Lenczyk | 77-80-80-78—315 |
| Betty Hicks | 76-80-82-77—315 |
| a-Claire Doran | 79-80-79-78—316 |
| a-Peggy Kirk | 78-81-83-75—317 |
| a-Mary Wall | 79-84-77-78—318 |
| Betty Jameson | 79-86-73-80—318 |
| a-Maureen Orcutt | 76-82-83-78—319 |
| Sally Sessions | 79-83-83-75—320 |
| a-Bee McWane | 73-84-86-79—322 |
| Helen Dettweiler | 81-81-84-76—322 |
| a-Shirley Spork | 80-79-85-79—323 |
| a-Betty MacKinnon | 84-83-80-79—326 |
| a-Alice Bauer | 82-89-74-82—327 |
| Katherine Hemphill | 329 |
| Bettye White | 332 |
| a-Betty Bush | 81-88-81-83—333 |
| a-Pat Devany | 81-81-90-84—336 |
| Marilynn Smith | 92-84-83-80—339 |
| a-Ann Cosgrove | 82-87-87-84—340 |
Sources:
Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer. "Babe Zaharias Gains 2 Strokes on Louise Suggs," Associated Press, Sept. 25, 1949.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1949, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1949.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, 1949, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1949.
Washington (D.C.) Evening Star. "Louise Suggs' 6-Shot Lead Looks Big Even to the Mighty Babe," Sept. 24, 1949.
