1997 U.S. Women's Open

The 1997 U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship was the 52nd U.S. Women's Open, held July 10–13 at the Witch Hollow course of Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near North Plains, Oregon, northwest of Portland.

1997 U.S. Women's Open

Tournament information
Dates	July 10–13, 1997
Location	North Plains, Oregon
Course(s)	Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club Witch Hollow Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	LPGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	6,365 yards (5,820 m)
Field	156 players, 64 after cut
Cut	147 (+5)
Prize fund	$1.3 million
Winner's share	$232,500
Champion
Alison Nicholas
274 (−10)

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club

Location in the United States

     Pumpkin Ridge

Location in Oregon

Alison Nicholas entered the final round with a three stroke lead and shot an even-par 71 to win her only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Nancy Lopez.[1] In the final pairing, Lopez slid a 15-foot (4.6 m) downhill birdie putt past the 72nd hole while Nicholas sank a three-footer (0.9 m) for par to win at 274 (−10).[2] Lopez, age 40 and in search of the title that eluded her, was the first-ever player to shoot four rounds in the 60s in the U.S. Women's Open.[1][3][4]

Two-time defending champion Annika Sörenstam's attempt for an unprecedented third straight title came up short. Five-over-par after her first nine holes on Thursday, she carded 77-73 for 150 (+8) and missed the 36-hole cut by three strokes, fourteen strokes behind the lead.[5][6] Through 2018, no one has won three consecutive U.S. Women's Opens.

The final round attendance on Sunday was a record 31,700 and the seven-day total was 123,850.[3]

This was the first U.S. Women's Open at Pumpkin Ridge; the championship returned just six years later in 2003. It previously hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1996, the third straight victory by 20-year-old Tiger Woods in his final competition as an amateur.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Patty Sheehan	United States	1992, 1994	72	71	71	68	282	−2	T9
Liselotte Neumann	Sweden	1988	67	70	76	71	284	E	T14
Pat Bradley	United States	1981	72	71	73	72	288	+4	T28
Betsy King	United States	1989, 1990	74	72	69	73	288	+4	T28
Meg Mallon	United States	1991	74	72	73	74	293	+9	T43
Jan Stephenson	Australia	1983	71	73	79	71	294	+10	T48

Source:[7]

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Laura Davies	England	1987	75	73	148	+6
Amy Alcott	United States	1980	73	75	148	+6
Hollis Stacy	United States	1977, 1978, 1984	77	72	149	+7
Annika Sörenstam	Sweden	1995, 1996	77	73	150	+8
JoAnne Carner	United States	1971, 1976	73	77	150	+8
Jane Geddes	United States	1986	76	WD

Source:[8]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 10, 1997

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Liselotte Neumann	Sweden	67	−4
T2	Se Ri Pak	South Korea	68	−3
	Susie Redman	United States
	Deb Richard	United States
	Kelly Robbins	United States
T6	Trish Johnson	England	69	−2
	Lorie Kane	Canada
	Nancy Lopez	United States
	Muffin Spencer-Devlin	United States
T10	Jenny Chuasiriporn (a)	United States	70	−1
	Alicia Dibos	Peru
	Rosie Jones	United States
	Alison Nicholas	England
	Pearl Sinn	United States

Source:[9]

Second round

Friday, July 11, 1997

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Alison Nicholas	England	70-66=136	−6
T2	Nancy Lopez	United States	69-68=137	−5
	Liselotte Neumann	Sweden	67-70=137
	Kelly Robbins	United States	68-69=137
T5	Juli Inkster	United States	72-66=138	−4
	Deb Richard	United States	68-70=138
7	Dawn Coe-Jones	Canada	72-67=139	−3
T8	Chris Johnson	United States	72-68=140	−2
	Joan Pitcock	United States	71-69=140
T10	Stefania Croce	Italy	72-69=141	−1
	Lisa Hackney	England	71-70=141
	Michele Redman	United States	74-67=141
	Muffin Spencer-Devlin	United States	69-72=141

Source:[8]

Third round

Saturday, July 12, 1997

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Alison Nicholas	England	70-66-67=203	−10
2	Nancy Lopez	United States	69-68-69=206	−7
3	Lisa Hackney	England	71-70-67=208	−5
4	Kim Williams	United States	71-71-67=209	−4
5	Karrie Webb	Australia	73-72-65=210	−3
T6	Donna Andrews	United States	74-71-66=211	−2
	Akiko Fukushima	Japan	71-71-69=211
	Michele Redman	United States	74-67-70=211
	Deb Richard	United States	68-70-73=211
	Kelly Robbins	United States	68-69-74=211

Source:[10]

Final round

Sunday, July 13, 1997

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Alison Nicholas	England	70-66-67-71=274	−10	232,500
2	Nancy Lopez	United States	69-68-69-69=275	−9	137,500
3	Kelly Robbins	United States	68-69-74-66=277	−7	86,708
4	Karrie Webb	Australia	73-72-65-68=278	−6	60,432
T5	Lisa Hackney	England	71-70-67-71=279	−5	46,159
	Stefania Croce	Italy	72-69-71-67=279
T7	Michele Redman	United States	74-67-70-69=280	−4	37,542
	Tammie Green	United States	74-70-71-65=280
T9	Akiko Fukushima	Japan	71-71-69-71=282	−2	28,769
	Chris Johnson	United States	72-68-73-69=282
	Dawn Coe-Jones	Canada	72-67-73-70=282
	Donna Andrews	United States	74-71-66-71=282
	Patty Sheehan	United States	72-71-71-68=282

Source:[7]

References

1. Shipnuck, Alan (July 21, 1997). "Open and Shut". Sports Illustrated. p. 44.
2. "1997 U.S. Women's Open Championship". Pumpkin Ridge. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
3. Rodman, Bob (July 14, 1997). "Nicholas wins duel with Lopez". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1B.
4. Pennington, Bill (July 14, 1997). "Lopez fails to get Shorty". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. (New York Times). p. C1.
5. Baum, Bob (July 12, 1997). "Nicholas roars into lead". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. p. C-1.
6. Rodman, Bob (July 12, 1997). "Lopez lurks one shot back". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 1D.
7. "Scoreboard". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. July 14, 1997. p. 5B.
8. "Scoreboard". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. July 12, 1997. p. 4D.
9. "LPGA Tour at North Plains (1st rd)". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. July 11, 1997. p. 2B.
10. "LPGA Tour at North Plains (3rd rd)". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. July 13, 1997. p. 7B.

External links

• U.S. Women's Open - past champions - 1997