Lowest Score After 2 Rounds in U.S. Women's Open

What are the best scores after the first two rounds of any U.S. Women's Open? That's the record we look at here: lowest opening 36-hole score in this biggest of women's major championships.

The record-holder is Helen Alfredsson, whose total after the first two rounds in 1994 was 132. Alfredsson opened with a score of 63, establishing a new U.S. Women's Open 18-hole record. She followed that up with a 69 for the 132 total.

Alfredsson led by four strokes at that point. But she lost that lead in the third round and wound up tying for ninth place after scoring 76-77 in the third and final rounds, respectively.

Lowest Score, First 36 Holes, U.S. Women's Open

• 132 — Helen Alfredsson, 1994 U.S. Women's Open, 63-69, at Indianwood Golf & Country Club in Lake Orion, Michigan, finished tied ninth
• 133 — Mina Harigae, 2022 U.S. Women's Open, 64-69, Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, finished second
• 134 — Juli Inkster, 1999 U.S. Women's Open, 65-69, Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi, won tournament
• 134 — Lorie Kane, 1999 U.S. Women's Open, 70-64, Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi, finished fourth

Only one of the four golfers above went on to win the tournament: Inkster in 1999. Following the second round, Inkster was tied with Kane for the lead. She followed up her low scoring of the first two rounds with a 67, opening a four-stroke lead. Inkster closed with a 71, finishing at 16-under 272 and winning by five strokes. Inkster's 272 total tied the USWO record for lowest 72-hole score, and her 16-under was a new USWO scoring record for strokes below par.

Bonus record: Highest scores to lead the tournament after 36 holes. We've seen the lowest 36-hole scores, let's now find out what the highest scores are that have led the USWO after two rounds.

Five golfers in USWO history have led the tournament after two rounds with a score of 149. But those five instances occurred in just three tournaments.

In the 1947 U.S. Women's Open (the first one that used a stroke-play format), two amateurs, Polly Riley and Estelle Page, shared the lead at 149. In the 1950 U.S. Women's Open, Betty Bush held the 36-hole lead at 149. And in the 1966 U.S. Women's Open, Sandra Spuzich and Mickey Wright shared the lead at 149.

Related articles:

• Largest margins of victory in U.S. Women's Open
• Biggest final-round comebacks to win U.S. Women's Open
• Youngest winners of U.S. Women's Open

Sources:
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Championship 81st Record Book, 2026, Tournament Records.