PITTSBURGH — JoAnne Carner shot her 14-over 85 Thursday in the first round of the US Senior Women’s Open at Fox Chapel.
Carner has won eight US Golf Association titles, the most by a woman. She won the US Women’s Open in 1971 and 1976 and has six US Women’s Amateur titles and one US Girls’ Junior championship.
The Hall of Famer birdied the par-3 11th hole on Thursday. He tied for 110th in a field of 120 players.
Japan’s Kaori Yamamoto took the lead after a 4-under 67. Christa Johnson and Lisa Grimes were a stroke back, Leta Lindley shot 69 and Mikino Kubo and Corina Kelepouris followed with 70. .
Annika Sorenstam opened with a 71, and Juli Inkster shot a 72.
Yamamoto, who at 50 is one of the youngest players in the field, played her way into the US Senior Women’s Open by medaling in a qualifier in Texas, shooting a 68 and winning by six strokes. On Thursday, he made the No. 6 then made five birdies and made no bogeys the rest of the way, needing only 28 putts.
“My shots were good and bad, but I was very lucky, but my putting was very good,” he said. “I started playing golf when I was 21 years old. I became a major player in 2000. I have been playing on the LPGA Tour in Japan since then and continuously qualified for the regular tour. I started playing the senior tour of Japan around 2018, and I have a victory four after that.”
Johnson, 66, was an All-American at the University of Arizona in 1979-80 and won nine times on the LPGA Tour. She has finished in the top 20 three times at the US Senior Women’s Open and has never been worse than 33rd, experience that helped her in Thursday’s first round.
“I played hard,” said Johnson, who hit 16 of 18 greens. “I even got it on the right side of the hole a couple of times, and those were easy putts, and then I made a few more putts that I didn’t expect, so it was fun.”
Grimes, who qualified for the US Women’s Open eight times and has played in all five US Senior Women’s Opens, reached the semifinals of the 1982 US Women’s Amateur, losing to Juli Inkster who went on to win her third consecutive Women’s Am.
“I had a bogey-free round, and I rarely have that,” Grimes said. “That’s something I like to remember. I was nervous the last couple of holes thinking, man, not so much as there are no bogeys on this course, which is a miracle in itself.
Lindley, who also played in the hottest part of the day, refused to wilt.
“I’m happy,” he said after hitting 16 of 18 greens. “I don’t think you can feel bad about being on the fun side of your opening round. I’m from South Florida where it melts, so the heat didn’t bother me too much, and I made sure to hydrate, but the Course played a lot faster than it did on Wednesday.”
Sorenstam, a three-time US Women’s Open champion and winner of the 2021 US Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, made three birdies and three bogeys, including on her final hole, as she hit the fairways 10 and 15 vegetables, but. 33 putts were required.
“I’m disappointed,” said Sorenstam. “I was trying a little harder. There’s a fine line between being aggressive but also being patient and being strategic, and I felt like I didn’t really have the courage. I’m disappointed about that. But I love the course. I think it’s really fun, and I have it for me, so if this is going to be my high point of the week, that’s going to be fine. .”
After Friday’s second round, the field will be reduced to 50 ties.
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