The first women's Major was held at the Women's Western Open in 1930. There have been different versions of the tournaments that are afforded Major status and, since 2014, we now have five – the Chevron Championship, US Women's Open, Women's PGA Championship, the Evian Championship and the Women's Open.
There have been many name changes but the US Women's Open remains the grandest of the five and, like the men's game, three are held in the United States.
PATTY BERG (15)
Patty Berg may never be beaten having chalked up 15 Majors from a total of 63 professional wins. Interestingly her first three came while the American was still an amateur, one was by an incredible 14 strokes, before a career-threatening car accident took place in 1941.
But she would serve in the Marine Corps during World War 2 before returning to golf in 1943. Berg would capture the inaugural US Women's Open, the only time it was held as a matchplay event, but that would be her only success in the championship. Bizarrely in the next 13 stagings of what is now the biggest Major, her lowest finish would be 12th but there were no more successes.
Titleholders Championship: 7 (1937, 1938, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1953)
US Women’s Open: 1 (1946)
Western Open: 7 (1941, 1943, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1957, 1958)
MICKEY WRIGHT (13)
From 1959-68 Mickey Wright captured 79 of her 82 victories, averaging 7.9 victories per year. Wright has many claims to fame but maybe her greatest is that she is the only female player to have held all four Majors at the same time. No player has won more LPGA Championships and only Betsy Rawls can match her four US Open wins. Wright would actually retire from full-time golf at just 34 due to problems with her feet. Both Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson said Wright had the best swing that they had ever seen.
US Women’s Open: 4 (1958, 1959, 1961, 1964)
Women’s PGA Championship: 4 (1958, 1960, 1961, 1963)
Titleholders Championship: 2 (1961, 1962)
Western Open: 3 (1962, 1963, 1966)
LOUISE SUGGS (11)
Louise Suggs would also win her first three Majors while still an amateur. The American would be one of the co-founders of the LPGA in 1950 and she would be a potent force in the women's game as she picked up a huge 61 wins on Tour. Her biggest margin of victory in a Major came at the 1949 US Women's Open when she waltzed to a 14-shot victory at Prince George's Country Club, a course that no longer exists. Over a course measuring nearly 6,900 yards and playing to a par of 75, Suggs would finish on nine under as no other player got close to matching par.
US Women’s Open: 2 (1949, 1952)
Women’s PGA Championship: 1 (1957)
Titleholders Championship: 4 (1946, 1947, 1949, 1954)
Western Open: 4 (1946, 1947, 1949, 1953)
ANNIKA SORENSTAM (10)
In her early days Annika Sorenstam would try and avoid winning so she could avoid having to make a speech. The Swede would end her career with 97 wins around the world including 10 Majors. The first was her maiden win on the LPGA Tour in 1995 and she would then take over the women's game, winning a Major every season from 2001-2006. In 2004 she won eight times on Tour and her Major results were 2-1-4-1. She recently played in two US Women's Opens having won the US Senior Women's Open as well as a special exemption at Pebble Beach. Sorenstam played in 59 Majors and finished in the top 10 in more than half of them.
US Women’s Open: 3 (1995, 1996, 2006)
Women’s PGA Championship: 3 (2003, 2004, 2005)
Chevron Championship: 3 (2001, 2002, 2005)
AIG Women’s Open: 1 (2003)
BABE ZAHARIAS (10)
Babe Zaharias led a short but extraordinary life. She didn't take up golf until she was 21 having won gold medals at the javelin and hurdles at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. She also excelled at basketball and baseball.
She won three Majors while still an amateur and, by 1950, she had completed the Grand Slam, winning the three Majors of the day. But she might have saved her best for last when she landed the 1954 US Women’s Open by 12 shots, all of which came just one month after surgery for colon cancer and wearing a colostomy bag.
The cancer returned in 1955 and, despite a limited schedule, she would still win two of her eight starts. She would sadly die at the age of 45 the following year.
US Women’s Open: 3 (1948, 1950, 1954)
Western Open: 4 (1940, 1944, 1945, 1950)
Titleholders Championship: 3 (1947, 1950, 1952)
KARRIE WEBB (7)
Karrie Webb was an absolute dominant figure in the women's game at the start of the millennium as she and Tiger Woods ticked off Major after Major. The Aussie would win four of her seven big ones in 2000 and 2001 – she would capture the then Nabisco Championship by 10 shots before romping to an eight-stroke triumph in the 2001 US Women's Open.
From 1979 to 2000 the du Maurier Classic was listed as a Major and Webb would win the 1999 version by two shots over Laura Davies.
In 2006 Webb would hole out from 116 yards to get into a play-off with Lorena Ochoa before making a birdie in extra time to secure her final Major.
US Women’s Open: 2 (2000, 2001)
Chevron Championship: 2 (2000, 2006)
Women’s PGA Championship: 1 (2001)
AIG Women’s Open: 1 (2002)
du Maurier Classic: 1 (1999)
INBEE PARK (7)
Inbee Park has enjoyed a fabulous modern-day Major career, getting off the mark at just 19, becoming the youngest player to win the US Women's Open. Five years later the Korean did the unthinkable, winning the year's first three Majors in the space of three months and she actually led at St Andrews after the opening round before slipping away. There would be two more to come in 2015 which gave her six Major successes in just three seasons as she continued to hole putt after putt. Park gave birth to a daughter in 2023 and is now expecting a second child.
US Women’s Open: 2 (2008, 2014)
Chevron Championship : 1 (2013)
Women’s PGA Championship: 3 (2013, 2014, 2015)
AIG Women’s Open: 1 (2015)
JULI INKSTER (7)
Juli Inkster has become better known in recent times for her Solheim Cup captaincy efforts but she is the leading modern-day American player in the Majors. Inkster is the only golfer in LPGA Tour history to win two Majors in a decade for three consecutive decades, the 80s, 90s and 2000s. She won two in her first full season and her seventh at the 2002 US Women's Open at the age of 42. Inkster closed with a 66 to reel in Annika Sorenstam and she joined Babe Zaharias as the only women to win two Majors after the age of 40. Inkster played in her 137th and final Major at Troon in 2020.
US Women’s Open: 2 (1999, 2002)
Chevron Championship: 2 (1984, 1989)
LPGA Championship: 2 (1999, 2000)
du Maurier Classic: 1 (1984)
BETSY RAWLS (6)
Only Betsy Rawls and Mickey Wright have won four US Women's Opens. The Championship has only twice visited the mighty Winged Foot and it was in 1957 that the women's game saw one of its most controversial moments.
Jackie Pung actually beat Rawls by a shot but her playing partner, Betty Jameson, had given her the right score, a 72, but she had put her down for a five on the 4th hole when she had in fact taken a six. Pung made the same error on Jameson's card so both players were disqualified.
So the record books tell us that Rawls was a six-shot winner over Patty Berg.
Rawls would win her eighth Major at the age of 41, 18 years after her first one.
Women’s Western Open: 2 (1952, 1959)
Women’s PGA Championship: 2 (1959, 1969)
US Women’s Open: 4 (1951, 1953, 1957, 1960)
