Women’s Open Turns 50 With USGA; Rawls Reflects on
’53 Title
By Adam Schupak
Fifty years ago this week the U.S. Women’s Open set the standard for
excellence that continues today. That’s when the USGA conducted the
Women’s Open for the first time, which was held at The Country Club
of Rochester N.Y.
The roots of the oldest championship open to women professionals and
amateurs actually date to 1946, but in 1953 the tournament rose to new
prominence when the USGA assumed sponsorship at the request of the Ladies
Professional Golf Association.
In 1946, the Women’s Professional Golfers Association assumed the financial
risks for operating the event until running out of money. The first
purse of $19,700 was bolstered by the Spokane Athletic Round Table,
which used its proceeds from slot machines.
In stepped the LPGA, taking on sponsorship from 1949 until 1952, when,
like the WPGA, it couldn’t sustain the monetary costs. Incidentally,
from 1946 through 1952 the purse actually shrunk. Upon a request by
the LPGA, the USGA took control thereafter.
"Seven annual tournaments are now conducted by the United States
Golf Association, and it is questionable whether any had as fine an
inauguration as did the Women’s Open Championship," wrote then
USGA Executive Director Joseph Dey Jr. in the August 1953 issue of Golf
Journal.
The USGA treated the championship as an elite event. It was better
organized, the course offered a stern test, amenities such as practice
balls were offered, and the USGA name attracted golf’s top amateur competitors.
"It was a whole different world," said World Golf Hall of
Fame member Betsy Rawls, who captured the 1953 title in a playoff. "You
felt it as soon as you registered that this was a big event."
Thirty-eight golfers showed up to compete for the $7,500 purse. Patty
Berg, who won the only U.S. Women’s Open conducted at match play in
1946, held a comfortable eight stroke lead and was the only competitor
under par after 36 holes. Jackie Pung, the 1952 U.S. Women’s Amateur
champion, and Marlynn Smith were the nearest contenders at 152, followed
by Rawls and Peggy Kirk Bell a shot farther back.
Rawls spent the first two days finding her swing. She recalled struggling
with her game entering the championship, but even when she was not at
her sharpest, Rawls had the type of game where she rarely beat herself.
"If you can make good putts, you can get away with a lot of other
poor shots and still win," said Rawls. "I wasn’t a terribly
long hitter, but I did have a lot of confidence in my putting."
On Saturday Rawls’s swing was in fine condition and her wizardry around
the green continued. She played the final 36 holes in 1-over par.
"It was a magical Saturday," said Rawls. "Winning never
entered my mind. I never thought I could catch Patty."
The Women’s Open followed the same format -- a 36-hole finale -- as
the men’s championship at that time. Berg’s sizeable lead began to melt
away in the morning when she ballooned to a third-round 80, shrinking
her lead to three shots over Rawls and four ahead of Pung.
Pung, who Rawls claimed "had one of the best swings on tour at
that time," played steady golf in the final round. She reached
the final hole at 1-under par for the round where she made her lone
mistake. Her approach landed in a bunker and she carded a bogey to finish
with an even-par 74. Despite the dropped shot, Pung grabbed the clubhouse
lead at 302.
Berg’s collapse continued in the afternoon. She was dropping shots
faster than Jackie Cochran, who earlier in the year became the first
woman to break the sound barrier. Berg still had a chance as she reached
the final holes but she bogeyed the last three to miss the playoff by
one shot. Rawls, on the other hand, belted a fairway wood from the rough
that bounded on to the 17th green and got down in two and
then rescued her par from the front fringe at the last to force an 18-hole
playoff with Pung on Sunday.
Rawls possessed a quiet reserve that masked her burning desire to succeed.
As she walked off the 18th green, Rawls congratulated Pung,
and with her arm flopped over Pung’s shoulder told the press: "‘Jackie
and I are great friends. Always will be. But when it strikes two tomorrow
afternoon, that’s the time when we are no longer friends. Isn’t that
right, Jackie?’"
Rawls arrived at the first tee the next day primed for victory. She
birdied the first hole and never looked back. She toured the front-nine
in 3-under 34 and finished with a championship best 71 to beat Pung
by six strokes.
"That was one of the best rounds of golf I ever played,"
said Rawls.
She finished the year with four victories and was named by the Los
Angeles Times as Woman Golfer of the Year. During her career Rawls won
the U.S. Women’s Open on four occasions but she ranks the 1953 victory
as her favorite.
"It was the first USGA event. It was a historic moment and my
name got to be first on the trophy," said Rawls.
For more information, please visit the World Golf Hall of Fame online
at www.worldgolfvillage.com.
