PITTSBURGH — JoAnne Carner shot her age with a 14-over 85 on Thursday in the first round of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Fox Chapel.
Carner has won eight U.S. Golf Association titles, the most by a female player. She won the U.S. Women’s Open in 1971 and 1976 and has six U.S. Women’s Amateur titles and one U.S. Girls’ Junior championship.
The Hall of Famer birdied the par-3 11th hole Thursday. She was tied for 110th in the 120-player field.
Kaori Yamamoto of Japan was the leader 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 at 70.
Annika Sorenstam opened with a 71, and Juli Inkster shot 72.
Yamamoto, who at 50 is one of the youngest players in the field, played her way into the U.S. Senior Women’s Open by being medalist at a qualifier in Texas, shooting 68 and winning by six strokes. On Thursday, she bogeyed No. 6 then made five birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way, needing only 28 putts.
“My shots were good and also bad, but I had a lot of lucky bounces, but my putting was very good,” she said. “I started playing golf at 21 years old. I turned pro in the year 2000. I have been playing on the LPGA Tour in Japan ever since and continuously have qualified for the regular tour. I started playing the Japan senior tour probably in 2018, and I have four victories after that.”
Johnson, 66, was an All-American at the University of Arizona 1979-80 and won nine times on the LPGA Tour. She’s finished in the top 20 three times in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open and never worse than 33rd, experience that helped her in Thursday’s first round.
“I played real steady,” said Johnson, who hit 16 of 18 greens. “I even got it on the right side of the hole two times, and those were maybe easier putts, and then I made a couple other putts that I wasn’t expecting, so it was nice.”
Grimes, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open eight times and has played in all five U.S. Senior Women’s Opens, made it to the semifinals of the 1982 U.S. 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 don’t have that very often,” Grimes said. “That’s something I like to remember. I was kind of nervous the last few holes thinking, man, not so much my score as no bogeys on this course, which is kind of a feat in itself.
Lindley, who also played during the hottest part of the day, refused to wilt.
“I’m happy,” she said after hitting 16 of 18 greens. “I don’t think you can be displeased being on the happy side of par for your opening round. I come from South Florida where we melt, so the heat didn’t bother me too much, and I made sure to hydrate, but certainly the course played a little faster than it did on Wednesday.”
Sorenstam, a three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion and winner of the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, made three birdies and three bogeys, including her final hole, as she hit 10 fairways and 15 greens, but needed 33 putts.
“I’m disappointed,” said Sorenstam. “I was a little tentative. There’s a fine line of being aggressive but then also being patient and having a strategy, and I just felt I really didn’t have the courage. I’m disappointed about that. But I love the course. I think it’s just really fun, and I have it in me, so if this is going to be my highest score of the week, then this will be okay.”
After Friday’s second round, the field will be cut to low-50 and ties.
