Kirkland, Washington
1982
43
Two
NA
1982
Born in Kirkland, Washington on April 4th, 1939, JoAnne Carner (nee Gunderson) joined the LPGA Tour in 1970, winning 43 times including two major championships, the 1971 and 1976 U.S. Women’s Opens. Also known as “Big Mama”, Carner was the second player in LPGA history to reach $1 million dollars in career earnings and after winning a U.S. Girls’ Junior, five U.S. Women’s Amateurs, and two U.S. Women’s Opens, set the women’s record for most USGA championships won with eight titles to her credit. Only Tiger Woods and Bobby Jones have more. Carner also remains the only woman to have won the U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur, and U.S. Women’s Open in her career.
She won the 1981 Bob Jones Award and was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1982. She was also named the Golf Writers Association of America Player of the Year for the 1982-83 season.
At the inaugural 1994 Solheim Cup, Carner captained the United States to a 13-7 victory over Europe. Ten years later, she became the oldest player to make a cut in LPGA Tour history when she finished T70 at the 2004 Chevron Championship at 64 years old. In 2021 at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, Carner again made history, setting the new record for the oldest golfer to play in a USGA championship at 82.
As an amateur, Carner won a national collegiate title while playing for Arizona State University and was a 4-time member of the United States Curtis Cup team. She also earned her first LPGA Tour victory at the 1969 Burdine’s Invitational as an amateur.
