Two-Time U.S. Women's Open Runner-Up Jessen Dies

September 22, 2007
E-mail address: mediarelations@usga.org

By Rhonda Glenn

Ruth Jessen, 70, a colorful and fiery competitor on the LPGA Tour for three decades and runner-up in the 1962 and 1964 U.S. Women's Open, died Friday night in a hospice center in Phoenix, Ariz.

Jessen, a native of Seattle, Wash., had a fine amateur career. She was medalist in the 1953 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship. In 1954 she won the Washington Women's Amateur and the Pacific Northwest Women's Amateur, repeating in the Pacific Northwest championship in 1955. In 1956, Jessen turned professional.

She rapidly became a gallery favorite on the LPGA Tour. Tall and blonde, she boasted one of the tour's more colorful wardrobes, favoring bright colors in an era when most players resorted to browns and blues. But her extremely wide putting stance, in which her feet were spread more than four feet apart, garnered the most press.

Jessen won 11 times and her best year was in 1964, when she won five tournaments. She very nearly won the 1964 U.S. Women's Open at San Diego C.C. in Chula Vista, Calif. Jessen trailed Mickey Wright by one stroke as the two played the 72nd hole. Jessen fired a fairway wood at the flagstick and her ball came to rest 3 feet from the hole, setting up a birdie.

Wright hit her approach shot into a greenside bunker and was forced to get up and down from a downhill lie. She hit what she later called the greatest bunker shot of her life, then made the putt to tie Jessen.

Wright played flawlessly in the 18-hole playoff the following day, winning with a 3-under-par 70 to Jessen's 72.

But it was Jessen's greatest year. She won five tournaments and finished second to Wright on the LPGA money list.

Jessen had a superlative record in the Women's Open. She finished second in 1962, two strokes behind winner Murle Lindstrom. She was third at Baltusrol in 1961, seven strokes behind Wright. She also finished fifth in 1963 and seventh in 1965.

Jessen suffered numerous injuries and resulting surgeries over the years. She had cancer surgery in 1965 and 1968 and returned to her old form just one more time. In 1971, she played in just five events, but surprised even herself when she won the Sears Classic in Port St. Lucie, Fla., for her final victory. The Golf Writers Association of America presented Jessen with the Ben Hogan Award at the end of the year to honor her comeback from injuries.

Jessen's lowest competitive round on the tour was a 64. The 1985 season was her last competitive year and she then became a popular teaching professional, giving lessons as late as last Friday before she was stricken.

Like so many of the early professionals, Jessen's lifetime earnings of $158,816 pale in comparison to today's modern winnings, but her friendliness to fellow competitors and her public relations skills made her an important contributor in efforts to keep the LPGA going during its early difficult days.

Rhonda Glenn is a manager of communications for the USGA. E-mail her with questions or comments at rglenn@usga.org.