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.
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 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, and led by a stroke over Bonnie Lauer after the third round. 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.
The course hosted the championship seven years earlier in 1974.
Final leaderboard Sunday, July 26, 1981 Place Player Score To par Money ($)1 Pat Bradley71-74-68-66=279−922,0002 Beth Daniel69-74-69-68=280−812,500 3 Kathy Whitworth69-70-71-74=284−49,500T4 Bonnie Lauer72-67-72-76=287−17,000 Cindy Hill76-70-69-72=287T6 Donna Caponi71-74-72-73=290+24,562 JoAnne Carner73-71-72-74=290 Marlene Floyd71-72-73-74=290 Patty Sheehan74-74-72-70=290 T10 Amelia Rorer73-77-69-73=292+42,967 Debbie Massey71-72-72-77=292 Hollis Stacy73-75-71-73=292 Sally Little74-72-76-70=292 Sandra Haynie75-73-73-71=292 Shelley Hamlin70-75-75-72=292 Source:
References
External links Golf Observer final leaderboard U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship La Grange Country Club