JoAnne Carner just might be playing her final round in a USGA championship on Friday at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. No woman has won more USGA titles than Carner, who has eight, and one would be hard-pressed to find a player more beloved in any field.
Leta Lindley’s goal this week is to have her picture taken with Big Mama at NCR Country Club. The women in this field are grateful that their careers have overlapped 83-year-old Carner’s. That she shared a laugh, a drink, a fairway, maybe even a tip or two.
“She was always one of my favorite to play with because she never laid up,” said Juli Inkster. “She was always just letting it rip. She was amazing out of the trees. All of a sudden, she’d be in the trees and all of a sudden this ball would be on the green. She had a great imagination, and she was fun.”
Everyone has a good Carner story. Here are some doozies:
Annika Sorenstam
JoAnne Carner at the first hole during a practice round at the 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at NCR Country Club (South Course) in Kettering, Ohio on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)
“One of the things that I always think about is … I think it shows a different, what do you call it, just approaches to the game. I was in the trailer when I played on the LPGA, and I was in there stretching and doing some weights and getting loose.
“Here she comes in and she literally just kind of sits on a bench and is kind of like observing everybody. Then the trainer comes up and said, ‘What can I do for you? And she goes, ‘Do you have any Advil?’ She got like two or three, and that was it. That was her trailer fitness moment.”
Laura Davies
“When I won my U.S. Open in ’87, it was in a playoff against JoAnne and Ayako Okamoto. At that stage, Ayako was one of the best players. My first meeting with JoAnne was beating her in a playoff in her national championship, so I’m not sure she was that keen on me initially, but we grew to become good friends. I remember in Florida, my very first tournament when I got on tour the next year, I was just in the bunker and JoAnne sidles over, and she made me a few tips, and to me that was the best thing ever, someone that less than two years before I’d beaten her in a playoff and she had time for me and Trish Johnson who was there.
“So for me, JoAnne has always been one of my favorite, just the generosity. She’s just a unique of – a…
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