FAIRFIELD, Conn. — JoAnne Carner wasn’t trying to break her age at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Truth be told, she was trying to make the cut.
“You know, I hit too many bad shots,” said Carner after carding a 7-over 79 at Brooklawn Country Club, besting her age by three shots.
She won’t make her goal of playing the weekend at Brooklawn, however, as the projected cut for top 50 and ties is 8 over. (The second round was suspended due to darkness.) Carner shot her age in the first round, 82, and finished at 17-over 161.
“It was really fun,” said Carner. “I mean, I started too late. Normally you come in here you’re all ready.
“But, you know, I was still hunting and pecking for some way to get it around there. Just, you know, I would hit a really good shot and then two holes later I would drop-kick it. … was just very erratic for me.”
Carner took 14 months off from golf during the COVID-19 pandemic and picked up a club for the first time two months ago. She played five times per week at her home club, Pine Tree in Boynton Beach, and lost 24 of the 26 pounds she’d gained while hunkered down away from the virus.
On Thursday, Carner became only the fifth player in history to shoot his or her age in a USGA championship more than once, and the first player to do it when in her 80s. At the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club, Carner matched her age, 79, in the opening round. Jerry Barber (9), Tom Watson (3), Hale Irwin (3) and Harold ‘Jug’ McSpaden round out that impressive group.
Carner also became the oldest player to compete in a USGA championship on Thursday, clipping McSpaden, who was 81 when he competed in the 1990 U.S. Senior Open.
ICYMI: You don’t want to miss JoAnne Carner making history at age 82! pic.twitter.com/Pf2HFt1SeY
— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) July 30, 2021
Carner turned professional at age 30 and won 43 times on the LPGA. She holds the record with eight USGA titles and at Brooklawn competed alongside amateurs Carol Semple Thompson and Ellen Port in the first two rounds, who each have seven USGA titles.
“It’s a thrill to play with her,” said Port, who at 4 under is four strokes back of leader Annika Sorenstam. “Her standards are high. Never will comment on other people’s games. There were a couple times I was like, ‘Dang, she outdrove me on a couple holes.’ She was great and Carol was great.”
The USGA allowed Carner to take a cart at Brooklawn due to her COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), which makes it difficult to walk on hills. Carner, who also had surgery on her right hip on Christmas Eve in 2019, averaged 191 yards off the tee in her first two rounds. She hit 11 greens in the first round and 10 in the second and bemoaned the number of putts she took (36 and 33).
Check out this lineup on the range: Juli Inkster, JoAnne Carner, Annika Sorenstam and the great amateur Carol Semple Thompson. pic.twitter.com/ETM0COY94L
— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) July 30, 2021
While warming up on the range next to Sorenstam, a Senior Open rookie, and Inkster, twice a runner-up at this event, fans were treated to an extraordinary display of talent. One couldn’t help but wonder how many more times those three champions would be in the same field.
Carner certainly didn’t rule out coming back next year. She appreciates that USGA events are always the toughest. Seeing the eight badges on her locker for each USGA victory this week brought a smile to her face each time she entered the room.
“You can’t just hit every green and every fairway in an Open,” said Carner. “You’re always going to have to play out of rough and out of the sand and all that. So your whole game has to be in good shape.
“That’s what I love about it. Those boring girls down the middle don’t win the Open usually.”
There’s never been anything boring about Big Mama. No one else in the game quite like her.
How to watch
Golf Channel will have live coverage Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m.