This time, Maria McBride didn’t let the trophy slip from her grasp. The long-hitting Swede overcame a couple of front-nine hiccups and held off a determined challenge from countrywoman Annika Sorenstam to win the 8th U.S. Senior Women’s Open on Sunday at Barton Hills Country Club.
Last year at San Diego Country Club, McBride was tied for the lead going into the final round and stumbled home with a 78 to finish T-4, eight strokes behind winner Becky Morgan. This year, once again playing in the final twosome with Morgan, McBride closed with a 73 to finish at 6-under-par 282, two strokes better than Sorenstam, who applied pressure with a 1-under-par 71 to be at 284.
Karrie Webb, the last to win the U.S. Women’s Open in consecutive years (2000-01), was third at 287 after a closing 70 with Catriona Matthew at 288 followed by Patricia Meunier-Lebouc (289) then Jackie Gallagher-Smith (290) and Charlotta Sorenstam, Laura Diaz and Morgan (292).
McBride took a four-stroke lead over two former winners of this championship – Morgan and Sorenstam – into the final round on a blustery Sunday with wind gusting 20 mph, especially early in the round. But a double bogey on No. 3 when the strong left-to-right wind carried her ball into the greenside bunker followed by a three-putt and consecutive bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 thrust Sorenstam into the lead.
But McBride would have none of last year’s shenanigans this time around. In San Diego, she came undone when she made a 9 on a par-5 in the final round but on this Sunday a chip-in for eagle on the par-5 ninth hole gave her the lead back. Then, when Sorenstam made a three-putt bogey on No. 14 – her first bogey of the day – and McBride followed by hitting to 6 feet on the same hole, converting it for birdie, she was two clear at six under par.
“It’s amazing obviously,” said McBride, who played the first eight holes 4-over par and the last 10 holes 3-under par while leading the field in driving distance for the week. “It was a huge goal for me to try to get the trophy. Maybe not this year, but maybe in the next few years.”
When McBride teed off on No.1 into the gusting wind, there was no one on the course under par for the day. It was clear this was a day on which pars would be at a premium. And in the group in front of her was Sorenstam, a four-time USGA champion who was playing with near-perfect patience.
The scoreboard behind No. 6 green showed Sorenstam that McBride had given back two stokes and now led her by only two, a margin cut in half when Sorenstam hit her approach off the flagstick at No. 6 to 2 inches to get to 4-under par.
“It’s been a great week in so many ways,” said Sorenstam, who led the field in greens in regulation, hitting 58 of 72. “The club has been fantastic. The golf course has been wonderful and a good challenge, and obviously the USGA puts on a nice championship. So, you know, gave it a run. Just wasn’t enough. Congratulations to Mimi for playing so solid today. I mean, it was quite windy. It was quite blistery there on the front. She just kind of hung in there.”
McBride got a bad break on No. 7 when her approach shot rolled up against the collar. She considered putting it, decided to chip instead, and hit it 5 feet above the hole, missing the tricky par putt. Another bogey by McBride on No. 8 dropped her behind Sorenstam but that chip-in for eagle on the ninth hole gave her back the lead, which she never surrendered.
“Yes, it was huge obviously, and I tried to tell myself, you know — After eight holes I was one behind all of a sudden, and then I thought, it’s only one behind,” McBride said about the impact of the eagle. “What if you were here without having lost those holes? One behind with nine, ten holes to go, there’s a big chance still that you can win it. It really boosted myself to chip in there and then make a few birdies coming in.”
Last week, McBride won the LPGA Legends Championship, giving her a rare double in the senior women’s majors.
“It was big obviously, and knowing that coming down the stretch me and Angela [Stanford] was really tight playing the last hole,” she said about how winning last week impacted this week. “We were tied playing the last hole. I made a birdie on the last, and that really boosted my game. Then having a big lead coming into today is sometimes a little hard because, you know, you feel like I shouldn’t really lose that many shots. But with the wind today as well, it was a little bit trickier than it’s been the previous days, and I started off a little rough, but you know, the chip-in on 9 kind of turned everything around for me.”
There have now been eight different winners of this championship, with three of them from Sweden, McBride joining Sorenstam (2021) and Helen Alfredsson (2019). Next year, Tacoma Country and Golf Club will play host for the ninth edition of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, which will once again be looking for its first two-time winner.
