— and dominated the LPGA Tour like few others who’ve ever lived
by Craig Smith
One of the best female golfers in history has deep roots in Washington state. But most Cascade Golfer readers wouldn’t know her if she showed up at their breakfast table.
“If you asked people in the golf community under the age of 40 about JoAnne Carner, they would have a hard time knowing who she is and what she’s done, even though she’s a legend, for sure,” says Mary Lou Mulflur, University of Washington women’s golf coach. “She’s clearly the best ever to come out of this state.”
Not just the best female golfer. The best golfer, period.
Need proof? The daughter of a Kirkland carpenter is one of just two golfers in history — and the only woman — to win the U.S. Junior title, the U.S. Amateur (which she did five times) and the U.S. Open (which she won twice). The only other golfer to accomplish that trifecta? Someone named Tiger.
The best description of Carner is probably the first paragraph of her bio in the World Golf Hall of Fame:
“She loved match play, showboating to the galleries, riding motorcycles and partying in the clubhouse with members after her rounds. As JoAnne Gunderson, and later JoAnne Carner, she dominated women’s golf — and nobody had more fun dominating than she did. There was a little Babe Ruth in her, a little Babe Zaharias, a little Walter Hagen and a little Shelly Winters, too. It made for some package.”
Still not convinced? No problem, there’s plenty more.
Carner attended Arizona State on a women’s golf scholarship at a time when women didn’t get scholarships. She proved the coaches right, winning the national title. She won 43 times on the LPGA Tour, was three times named player of the year and finished three seasons atop the money list, ending her professional career as just the second woman to top $1 million in career earnings. Despite the LPGA playing just two majors a year for the first 16 years of her career, she won two majors, was runner-up eight times (trailing just Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Louise Suggs and Patty Berg in golf history), and in the top-10 an unbelievable 32 times in a 70-major stretch between 1962-92 — oh, and just for kicks, 25 of those 32 were top-fives.
She never lost a singles match in four Curtis Cup appearances (U.S. amateurs vs. Great Britain), and captained the U.S. to victory in the Solheim Cup (the women’s Ryder Cup) in 1994. She locked up World Golf Hall of Fame status a full 23 years before her final tournament. In 2004, just shy of her 65th birthday, she became the oldest woman ever to make the cut at an LPGA event.
Today, at age 76, 10 years after her retirement, she still plays regularly near her home in Florida, and teaches at a women’s golf training academy that bears her name.
“I don’t hit it as far as I used to, and I don’t do the same things,” she says, “but it’s still a lot of fun.”