1981 U.S. Women's Open

The 1981 U.S. Women's Open was the 36th U.S. Women's Open, held July 23–26 at La Grange Country Club in LaGrange, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago.

1981 U.S. Women's Open

Tournament information
Dates	July 23–26, 1981
Location	LaGrange, Illinois
Course(s)	La Grange Country Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	LPGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,204 yards (5,673 m)[1][2]
Field	150 players, 70 after cut
Cut	153 (+9)
Prize fund	$150,000
Winner's share	$22,000
Champion
Pat Bradley
279 (−9)
← 1980 1982 →

La Grange 

Location in the United States

La Grange 
Country Club

Location in Illinois

Three strokes back after 54 holes, Pat Bradley shot a final round 66 (−6) to win her only U.S. Women's Open, one stroke ahead of runner-up Beth Daniel.^[1][2][3][4] It was the second of Bradley's six major titles.

Kathy Whitworth had her best chance to win the U.S. Women's Open, the only major championship to elude her. She co-led after 18 and 36 holes,^[5] and led by a stroke over Bonnie Lauer after the third round.^[6] Both faded on Sunday as Whitworth carded a 74 (+2) to finish five strokes back in solo third. With that, she became the first to exceed one million dollars in career earnings on the LPGA Tour.^[7]

The course hosted the championship seven years earlier in 1974.

Final leaderboard

Sunday, July 26, 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Pat Bradley	71-74-68-66=279	−9	22,000
2	Beth Daniel	69-74-69-68=280	−8	12,500
3	Kathy Whitworth	69-70-71-74=284	−4	9,500
T4	Bonnie Lauer	72-67-72-76=287	−1	7,000
	Cindy Hill	76-70-69-72=287
T6	Donna Caponi	71-74-72-73=290	+2	4,562
	JoAnne Carner	73-71-72-74=290
	Marlene Floyd	71-72-73-74=290
	Patty Sheehan	74-74-72-70=290
T10	Amelia Rorer	73-77-69-73=292	+4	2,967
	Debbie Massey	71-72-72-77=292
	Hollis Stacy	73-75-71-73=292
	Sally Little	74-72-76-70=292
	Sandra Haynie	75-73-73-71=292
	Shelley Hamlin	70-75-75-72=292

Source:^[1]

References

1. "Bradley shows she can't be overlooked". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. July 27, 1981. p. 4B.
2. "Bradley shoots past field". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. July 27, 1981. p. D2.
3. McDermott, Barry (August 3, 1981). "A champion and a winner". Sports Illustrated. p. 42.
4. Kausler, Don Jr. (July 27, 1981). "Bradley wins Open by 1". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 2.
5. "Whitworth touchy about Open hopes". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 25, 1981. p. 3C.
6. "Whitworth alone in lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 26, 1981. p. 7C.
7. "Women's Open emotional". St. Petersburg Independent. (Florida). Associated Press. July 27, 1981. p. 1C.

External links

• Golf Observer final leaderboard^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship
• La Grange Country Club

41.801°N 87.881°W / 41.801; -87.881