JoAnne Carner

JoAnne Gunderson Carner (born April 4, 1939) is a former American professional golfer. Her 43 victories on the LPGA Tour led to her induction in the World Golf Hall of Fame. She is the only woman to have won the U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Women's Amateur, and U.S. Women's Open titles, and was the first person ever to win three different USGA championship events. Tiger Woods is the only man to have won the equivalent three USGA titles. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Carol Semple Thompson have also won three different USGA titles.

In 1981, Carner was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. She captained the 1994 U.S. Solheim Cup team.

Amateur career

Gunderson was born in Kirkland, Washington. The Great Gundy (as she was known before she married Don Carner) remained an amateur until age 30. From 1956 to 1968, she was the dominant woman in amateur golf. She accumulated five U.S. Women's Amateur titles (1957, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1968), ranking her second only to Glenna Collett Vare who had six. She was runner-up two other times (1956, 1964). In 1966, Carner needed 5 extra holes (41 holes in total) to beat Marlene Stewart Streit in the longest final match in U.S. Women's Amateur history. She also won the U.S. Girls' Junior in 1956.

In 1969 while still an amateur, Carner won an LPGA event, the Burdine's Invitational. She is the last amateur to win on the LPGA tour.^[1]

Professional career

Carner's greatest professional victories were her 1971 and 1976 U.S. Women's Opens. In 1971, she led after each round and won easily, finishing seven shots better than Kathy Whitworth who finished in second.^[2] In 1976, Carner needed an 18-hole playoff to defeat Sandra Palmer.

Big Mama (her other nickname) was the second player in LPGA history to cross the $1 million mark in career earnings. She had an unusually long career, remaining competitive through the late 1990s. During 2004, she still played 10 tournaments and became the oldest player to make a cut on the LPGA Tour at age 65.^[3]

Amateur wins (7)

• 1956 U.S. Girls' Junior
• 1957 U.S. Women's Amateur
• 1959 Women's Western Amateur
• 1960 U.S. Women's Amateur
• 1962 U.S. Women's Amateur
• 1966 U.S. Women's Amateur
• 1968 U.S. Women's Amateur

Professional wins (49)

LPGA wins (43)

LPGA Tour playoff record (10-10)

^Carner won the Burdine's Invitational as an amateur.

Note: Carner won the Peter Jackson Classic (which became the du Maurier Classic) twice before it became a major championship.

Other wins (6)

• 1975 Wills Qantas Australian Ladies Open
• 1977 LPGA National Team Championship (with Judy Rankin)
• 1978 Colgate Triple Crown Match-Play Championship
• 1979 Colgate Triple Crown
• 1982 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with John Mahaffey)
• 1996 Sprint Titleholders Senior Challenge

Major championships

Wins (2)

¹ In an 18-hole playoff, Carner 76, Palmer 78.

Results timeline

† The tournament now known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship was the Nabisco Dinah Shore Championship through 1999. It became the Nabisco Championship in 2000 and adopted its current name in 2002.
^The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
X = not a major
"T" = tied for place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

See also

• Golfers with most LPGA Tour wins

References

External links

• JoAnne Carner at the LPGA Tour official site
• JoAnne Carner at the Legends Tour official site
• JoAnne Carner bio at about.com