She is survived by her two daughters, Robin Doctor and Cindy Molchany.
This story has been edited for clarity.
Susie Maxwell Berning, a 2021 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee who won three U.S. Women’s Opens, died Wednesday. She was 83.
Maxwell Berning won 11 times on the LPGA during her career, and she’s one of six women to win the U.S. Women’s Open at least three times, capturing the trophy in 1968, 1972 and 1973. She also won the Women’s Western Open in 1965 when it was considered a major championship.
The USGA confirmed Maxwell Berning’s passing in a release.
“Susie was a true trailblazer from the moment she picked up a golf club,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said in the release. “When I reflect on the incredibly short list of golfers – male or female – who have claimed three U.S. (Women’s) Open titles, alongside four major championships, it puts into perspective just how extraordinary her achievements were. Even more inspiring is the decision she made to step away from the competitive game to prioritize her family, a choice that resonates deeply with so many of us. Her legacy will forever be a source of admiration and respect.”
Born in Pasadena, California, on July 22, 1941, she spent her teenage years in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where her family rented a house across the street from a municipal golf facility, Lincoln Park, which remains open to this day.
In 1946, U.S. Women’s Open champion Patty Berg came to the course for a clinic, and that sparked Maxwell Berning’s interest in golf. She would go on to earn scholarship to Oklahoma City University, where she played on the men’s golf team. Two of her amateur rivals in Oklahoma, Beth Stone and Betsy Cullen, later joined the LPGA, and that inspired Maxwell Berning to turn pro.
In 1964, she was named LPGA’s Rookie of the Year. Four years later, she earned the first of her three U.S. Women’s Open titles. Her other two USWO wins came at Winged Foot Golf Club and the Country Club of Rochester.
In 1989, at the Konica San Jose Classic in California, Maxwell Berning and her daughter, Robin, became the first mother and daughter to compete in the same LPGA event. They did it again five years later at the Wegmans Rochester LPGA tourrnament.
After retiring from the LPGA in 1996, Maxwell Berning spent more than 20 years at The Reserve Club in Indian Wells, California, where she was made an honorary member.
She is survived by her two daughters, Robin Doctor and Cindy Molchany.
Take a look at the 17 trophies the USGA hands out for its championships.
The U.S. Golf Association is conducting 17 championships in 2024.
That means the USGA will be handing out 17 trophies, from the U.S. Open to the U.S. Girls’ Junior to the Walker Cup and everything in between.
The organization notes that “as with all USGA trophies, the winner receives the trophy in a post-championship ceremony and keeps it for a year.”
Tiger Woods and Bobby Jones have the most of these trophies, as they each won nine USGA events. On the women’s side, JoAnne Carner has the most with eight.
The TV ratings for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open are out, according to a report by essentiallysports.com, and it shows the major championship viewership was down considerably from a year ago.
But while there were fewer people watching from home, there were a big number of them on site.
The U.S. Golf Association didn’t release specific attendance figures but did report that it’s the highest-attended USWO since 2015, a year when the tournament grounds were open for seven days, as compared to six this time around.
And the fans that went were spending money. The USGA says hospitality at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, matched the all-time high while it proved to be the best year ever for merchandise sales, including highest average transaction.
As for the TV numbers, though, NBC’s final-round coverage of Yuka Saso’s second USWO title was down considerably from 2023 when the Open was staged at Pebble Beach, pure eye candy for golf viewers at home.
The Essentially Sports report says Sunday viewership was 1.58 million for Pebble but just 943,000 this time around. Saturday’s third round on NBC had 825,000 viewers while Friday’s second round, which was on cable on the USA Network, was 204,000.
It didn’t help that a caravan of big names failed to reach the weekend, including World No. 1 Nelly Korda.
Saso has now won $3.4 million for her two U.S. Women’s Open wins.
LANCASTER, Pa. — Yuka Saso has now won $3.4 million in her two U.S. Women’s Open victories. In three years, the winner’s share has more than doubled from $1 million to $2.4 million.
Once again, the second-place finisher at the USWO took home one of the biggest paychecks in the women’s game as Hinako Shibuno earned $1,296,000 for her work at Lancaster Country Club.
Thai veteran Wichanee Meechai, 31, took home the biggest paycheck of her career for her share of sixth.
It’s also worth nothing that every player in the field who missed the cut this week took home $10,000.
Take a look at the complete breakdown of the record $12 million purse:
Of all the majors, it’s the oldest one that carries the most prestige.
For most players, this is the list they want to be on the most. Of all the major championships, it’s the oldest one that carries the most prestige. The 79th U.S. Women’s Open was staged at Lancaster Country Club, a 1919 William Flynn design and eight past champions were in the field.
The winner, Yuka Saso, received the Mickey Wright medal, custody of the Harton S. Semple Trophy for one year, an exemption into the next 10 U.S. Women’s Opens as well as exemptions into the next five playings of the other four majors.
And, of course, a mighty big check. Saso received a $2.4 million first-place prize, the second-largest check in women’s golf. The 2024 CME Group Tour Championship winner will receive $4 million.
Mickey Wright and Betsy Rawls have the most U.S. Women’s Open titles with four. Four players have won the championship three times: Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Susie Maxwell Berning, Hollis Stacy and Annika Sorenstam.
Here’s the compete list of the U.S. Women’s Open champions:
Saso is the 13th woman to win the event more than once in 79 years of competition.
LANCASTER, Pa. – At the end of Yuka Saso’s winner’s press conference, a USGA official handed her a whoopie pie. The chocolate cake-like sandwiches, filled with a fluffy cream center, originated in Lancaster County, and legend has it that when Amish children found the desserts in their lunch pails, they’d yell “Whoopie!”
Saso shifted her seat around so that cameras couldn’t catch her taking a bite behind the Harton S. Semple trophy. It was the only shy moment of the day for the woman who stormed to the finish line at demanding Lancaster Country Club to claim her second U.S. Women’s Open title in three years.
When Saso won her first in a playoff at The Olympic Club at age 19, she represented her mother’s native Philippines, giving that country its first major championship. On Sunday in Lancaster, she represented Japan, giving her father’s native homeland its first U.S. Women’s Open champion.
“It’s just a wonderful feeling that I was able to give back to my parents in the same way,” said Saso, who got emotional during the trophy presentation when talking about her family.
Yuka Saso poses for a photograph with the Harton S. Semple trophy in front of the scoreboard after winning the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. (Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The 79th edition of this championship will long be remembered as a week of surprises. It started with 29-year-old Lexi Thompson’s stunning retirement announcement. Two days later, Nelly Korda made a 10 on her third hole of the championship, putting three balls into the water on the par-3 12th, and it suddenly felt like the championship got punched in the gut.
The player who’d dominated the entire season, winning six of her last seven starts, wasn’t even around for the weekend. But the bleeding didn’t stop with Korda. The list of stars who exited early was a who’s who of favorites, including Rose Zhang, Brooke Henderson and Lydia Ko.
One silver lining: The mass exodus gave room for a surprise veteran – Wichanee Meechai – to step up to the mic and win over hearts with the rarest kind of honesty. The way 31-year-old Meechai talked about what pressure does to her body was a masterclass in letting people into an athlete’s mind. The fact that she told a few ghost stories along the way was icing on the whoopie pie.
By the time Sunday rolled around, only five players were under par and two-time major winner Minjee Lee was the undisputed favorite. Lee shared the lead at the start of the day with the winless Meechai and Andrea Lee, an American who’d won at every level but never the really big titles.
A couple of major champions who hadn’t done much lately, Saso and 2019 AIG Women’s Open champion Hinako Shibuno, rounded out the top five.
As the afternoon got underway in front some of the biggest galleries players will see this decade, Lee jumped out to an early advantage but struggles off the tee kept her from pulling away. Instead, the leaderboard felt like a free-for-all as every player who started the day in the red struggled with the pressure.
By the time American Ally Ewing posted a closing 66 to finish at even par for the tournament, it felt for a moment like she could pull off a come-from-behind finish for the ages.
But then Saso, who four-putted for double on the sixth hole, found another gear when she drained a rare birdie on Nelly’s nemesis 12th hole and kept going, pouring in more birdies on 13, 15 and 16. The 3-wood she hit from the tee on the drivable par-4 16th to 16 feet sent a powerful statement as she now led the field by three.
A clutch up-and-down on the 18th, where she’d struggled with a similar shot the day prior, sealed the three-shot victory for Saso, who made a staggering 422 feet of putts for the week.
Three years ago, Saso, who modeled her swing after her favorite player, Rory McIlroy. matched Inbee Park as the youngest champion in U.S. Women’s Open history in 2021 at 19 years, 11 months and 17 days. On Sunday, she became the youngest to win multiple titles at 22 years, 11 months and 13 days.
“We thought it was the perfect golf course for her,” said Saso’s veteran caddie Dylan Vallequette. “She hits it long; she hits it high.”
Saso’s $2.4 million payday is the largest first-place prize ever given at a women’s major. Shibuno’s closing 72 gave Japan an historic 1-2 finish. The Smiling Cinderella earned $1.3 million for her efforts and was asked how she planned to spend her money.
“I will ask Yuka to buy me something,” she joked.
For Andrea Lee, this was a massive building block as the former Stanford star found herself playing in the final group of a major for the first time.
“I was extremely nervous,” said Lee, who took a share of third with Ewing, “but I feel like I learned a lot about how to control my emotions out here.”
For Meechai, the week held a slew of firsts. Her share of sixth is her first top 10 in a major. She leaves Lancaster with an untold number of new fans and, hopefully, a world of confidence.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing right now and just believe in myself that I can do it,” she said, “that I can win the tournament. I think that’s the key for me now.”
Minjee Lee, the most grizzled veteran of the bunch in terms of success, posted the highest final round among the contenders, a 78. She dropped all the way to down to a share of ninth.
“Obviously, I’m going to acknowledge my disappointment and then come back stronger,” she said, “take the positives out of the week, you know.”
The classy Minjee, the 2022 USWO champion, stood in the back of the flash area with Saso’s father during the winner’s press conference. Shibuno stuck around, too, for her friend.
Asterisk Talley, the brace-faced, fearless 15-year-old who was in the top five after two rounds, shared low amateur honors with 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megan Schofill and USC’s Catherine Park. All three finished in a share of 44th.
For Saso, this victory likely means a return to the Olympics in Paris under a new flag as she vaults up the Rolex Rankings. It certainly means a return to the spotlight, where her name will be mentioned on a short list of players who pose a threat to Korda’s towering command.
In the meantime, Saso was off to find some dinner before she gets back to that whoopie pie. Can’t have too much sugar on an empty stomach, she explained.
After all, she was already on a natural high.
Golfers with at least two U.S. Women’s Open titles
LANCASTER, Pa. – Charley Hull was asked for an autograph on her way down to the driving range on Tuesday at the U.S. Women’s Open Championship. Nothing unordinary about that, except that the Englishwoman happened to be smoking a cigarette at the time. With her hands full, Hull kept the cigarette in her mouth as she scribbled away. Golf.com’s Zephyr Melton was there to document the moment with his cell phone, and it quickly went viral.
“I find it quite funny, because I actually do go to the gym and I’m a very healthy person,” Hull told the media after a closing 3-under 67 at Lancaster Country Club. “I only smoke. I hardly drink. I don’t need to drink because, actually, I can have a fun time without it.
“Yeah, listen, my dad smokes 40 a day since he was 12 years old and now he’s 75, and my nephew smokes who is like 25. My whole family smokes, so it’s not something that I’ve noticed being odd. I hate smoking. I used to curse at my dad when I was younger for smoking, but I think it’s to do a little bit when I’m stressed.”
In fact, 28-year-old Hull said she only picked up smoking because she wanted to stop vaping. Not that vaping is any better of her, but she can’t smoke a cigarette indoors.
“When it’s a slow round on the golf course,” she said, “I smoke quite a few more than I should.
“But listen, I will stop soon. It’s just when.”
Hull, a two-time winner on the LPGA, has always been one of the great characters in the women’s game. Many fans became familiar with her for the first time at the 2013 Solheim Cup in Colorado when she beat Paula Creamer, 5 and 4, in singles play and then asked for her autograph for a mate back home. Hull was 17 at the time, the youngest player in Solheim history.
Last year, she finished runner-up to Allisen Corpuz at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach and delivered one of the most memorable on-course moments on the 18th Sunday, when she took an aggressive line under a tree with a 3-wood in an attempt to reach the iconic green in two to put pressure on Corpuz.
“You know the saying, shy kids don’t get sweets?” Hull asked her caddie shortly before taking a mighty big swing.
Hull’s Solheim Cup partner Mel Reid told a great story on Golf Channel’s Live From broadcast earlier this week about the time Hull asked her caddie if he’d booked her a massage moments before converting a pivotal putt late in the match.
“Literally all my friends always say I should have a TV show with what goes on in my life,” said Hull. “If you think I’ve got a lot of personality on the golf course, you should see what my life is like at home.”
Hull’s agent told her she’s gained around 70,000 followers this week from the cigarette video making the rounds. Hull put her Instagram account on her agent’s phone about four weeks ago and sends along photos and videos for her to post. With her addictive personality, Hulls said there’s too much wasted time scrolling.
Charley Hull prepares to hit her tee shot on the 10th hole during the first round of the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open. (Photo: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports)
“We’re just scratching the surface of her ability to be on a reality tv show,” said Reid, with a laugh. “She would thrive on ‘Love Island’, absolutely thrive, because could rip as many darts as she wants, she could swear, she could do whatever she wants, she can be outrageous. The world is her oyster in that kind of realm of entertainment.”
The crowds at Lancaster are among the best this championship has seen in the past 20 years, and they shouted Hull’s name all week.
“Someone said I’ve dropped something and then handed their phone number on a piece of paper in my hand,” she said, grinning. “He was like, here’s my number. Text me so we can figure out where I’m taking you out for dinner tonight. I never texted him obviously, but it was just so funny.”
When asked if she’d gotten more attention from one cigarette than any other week of her career, Hull laughed as she twirled her ponytail.
“I think I did, you know, I really think I did,” she said. “It was pretty crazy. Just one cigarette, it lit up.”
LANCASTER, Pa. – Technically, Asterisk Talley is still in school. The Chowchilla High School freshman actually had a bunch of homework due on Friday, but hoped her teachers would give her a pass as she plays her way up the leaderboard in her U.S. Women’s Open debut.
“I feel like I can kind of fluctuate with the due date,” said Talley from Golf Channel’s U.S. Women’s Open Live From desk, “even though they were like ‘no exceptions.'”
The 15-year-old media darling from Chowchilla, California, was in high demand after carding rounds of 70-71 at Lancaster Country Club to finish in the top five with fellow amateur Megan Schofill. Coming into her first LPGA major, Talley had a stair-step approach to her goals for the week.
“I first wanted to make the cut,” said Talley, “and if that, I wanted to get low amateur, and if I was playing good enough, I wanted to win. But you know, I feel like setting the bar high for myself really helps me play better golf because if I expect the best out of myself and I don’t meet that, then I’m still doing OK, so I feel like that’s worked for me.”
"I have a bunch [of homework], and it's all due today." 😂
15-year-old amateur Asterisk Talley shares her #USWomensOpen experience so far after carding solid rounds of 70-71 to reach T-11. pic.twitter.com/Id6LjGhCZN
Known for her calm nature on the golf course, the long-hitting Talley, whose name means “little star” in Greek, has tackled this demanding William Flynn design with maturity beyond her years.
Of course, it’s not unusual for teens to make headlines at this event. 2014 champion Michelle Wie West first made the cut at the Women’s Open in 2003 at age 13. She’d tie for 13th the following year at age 14.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda made her first cut at a Women’s Open in 2013 at age 14, ultimately tying for 64th. Lexi Thompson was 14 when she made the cut in 2009 and tied for 34th. Canadian legend Brooke Henderson made the cut as a 15-year-old in 2013 and tied for 10th at age 16 at Pinehurst.
LPGA founder Marlene Hagge holds the record for being the youngest player to make the cut in this championship in 1947 at age 13.
Talley, who won her first USGA title earlier this month at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, was a spectator at this event last year and has been wanting to qualify “forever.” Now that she’s made it, the fearless player feels comfortable enough to feel like she belongs.
“I’m just trying to have a good time out here,” said Talley. “I want my first Open to be memorable and for it to always be something I can look back on and say I had the time of my life, and I feel like earlier in the week I wasn’t having a lot of fun.
“Then when I started playing the tournament rounds I had so much fun out here. I’m having the best time of my life, so I hope that I can look back and just remember this time.”
Only time will tell if the rental is a scarier place than the solo lead in a U.S. Open.
The list of big names who missed the cut at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open is a Who’s Who in the game: Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, In Gee Chun, Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko. They’re all going home after 36 holes, even with the cut coming in at 8 over.
But there are three recent major champions in contention after two days, including the winners of two of the last three U.S. Women’s Opens.
Wichanee Meechai leads the way at 4 under with Andrea Lee two shots back. They are the only two players to post a round in the 60s in each of the first two rounds.
Only four players finished under par through 36 holes and two are major champions: Minjee Lee, winner of the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open and 2021 Amundi Evian, and Yuka Saso, who won the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open.
Just behind those four are eight golfers tied for fifth at 1 over, a group that includes another recent major winner, 2019 AIG Women’s British Open champ Hinako Shibuno.
Also tied for fifth are two amateurs, Asterisk Talley and Megan Schofill. A total of four amateurs made the cut.
The difficult Lancaster Country Club layout has certainly turned things sideways this week, making for an unpredictable leaderboard.
“It’s really tough out there. The course requires all of your attention on every single golf shot,” said Lee. “Just staying super patient and trying to hit fairways, hit greens and take the birdies when I can. But par is a really, really good score out here, so that’s what I’m going to try and do on the weekend, just try and make as many pars as I can.”
Lee, who won once on tour in 2022, has a career-best T-9 in a major at last year’s AIG Women’s British Open.
Minjee Lee, meanwhile, sounded a little less stressed about the layout and conditions.
“I’m really enjoying my time so far,” she said. “The course is a really lovely walk, so a lot of different type of holes, so a lot of character to the course. It’s just nice to look at, and it’s tricky. The rough is up. The greens are fast. That’s what I expect for a U.S. Open. Yeah, I’m enjoying it.”
So about that haunted house…
Thailand’s Meechai, 31, has yet to win on the LPGA. In seven events in 2024, she’s missed three cuts and has just one top 10, a T-7 at the Cognizant Founders Cup three weeks ago. She is in unchartered waters for sure.
“To be honest, before the tee time, I was so nervous,” she admitted. “My hands just shaking, my brain just stop working. But trying to commit to the shot. I know that the course is hard; just go with the flow probably. That’s my point, and just have fun.”
Meechai has never held the lead in a tournament before.
“Never. This is my first time, and it’s U.S. Open, so I get more nervous now, I think,” she said.
She was later asked if she was staying with anyone this week but said it’s just her in a rental house.
“I’m the only one in my house right now. I was going to book the hotel because it’s very last minute that I made the qualifying. I booked the hotel already, and Pajaree [Anannarukarn, a fellow Thai pro], she just told me that she have a house because she book it like way long time ago, but she didn’t make it, and she asked me do you want a house.
“So I was like, OK, I prefer the house because I can do laundry, I can cook, everything. So I take the house and then stay, kind of haunted house a little bit. I’m so scared the first night but it’s fine now.
“But I think that probably if they have a ghost in that house, I think the ghost like me.”
Only time will tell if the rental is a scarier place than the solo lead in a U.S. Open.
LANCASTER, Pa. – Sei Young Kim withdrew from the second round of the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open with a back injury after starting the day in a share of fifth.
Kim, making her 11th Women’s Open start, shot 70 in the opening round. On Friday, she was six over after 12 holes when she pulled out of the tournament.
Kim had finished in the top 20 at this event in her last five appearances. A 12-time winner on the LPGA, the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA champion last won on tour at the 2020 Pelican Women’s Championship. She struggled with a back injury in the 2019 season, changing her swing and workout regimen to heal.
