Nationality United States Height 1.7 m LPGA tour wins 43 Role Golfer Turned professional 1970 | Name JoAnne Carner Professional wins 49 Former tours LPGA | |
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Full name JoAnne Gunderson Carner Nickname The Great Gundy,Big Mama Spouse Don Carner(m. 1963–99, his death) Similar People | ||
1987 willie mosconi billiards pro golfer joanne carner
JoAnne Gunderson Carner (born April 4, 1939) is an American former 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.
Contents
- 1987 willie mosconi billiards pro golfer joanne carner
- JoAnne Carner on The Legends Tour
- Amateur career
- Professional career
- Personal
- Amateur wins 7
- LPGA Tour wins 43
- Other wins 6
- Wins 2
- Results timeline
- Summary
- Team appearances
- References
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.
JoAnne Carner on The Legends Tour
Amateur career
Born in Kirkland, Washington, a suburb east of Seattle, "The Great Gundy" (as she was known before she married Don Carner) remained an amateur until age 30. In 1960, while attending Arizona State University, she won the national intercollegiate individual golf championship. From 1956 to 1968, she was the dominant woman in amateur golf, and 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.
While still an amateur in 1969, Carner won an LPGA Tour event, the Burdine's Invitational. She was the last amateur to win on the LPGA Tour until 15-year-old New Zealander Lydia Ko won the CN Canadian Women's Open in 2012.
Professional career
Carner's greatest professional victories were her two U.S. Women's Opens, in 1971 and 1976. She led after each round in 1971 and won easily, finishing seven shots better than Kathy Whitworth who finished in second. 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.
Personal
Carner is a graduate of Arizona State University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She married Don Carner in 1963, and he also served as her coach and business manager. They were married 36 years until his death at age 83 in 1999 after a long illness. The couple was known for driving from tournament to tournament and staying in an Airstream trailer.
Amateur wins (7)
LPGA Tour wins (43)
1 Carner won the Burdine's Invitational as an amateur.
LPGA Tour playoff record (10–10)
Other wins (6)
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
... = not yet a major
"T" = tied for place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Summary
Team appearances
Amateur
Professional