Juli Inkster is all about winning. She burst on the scene by capturing the U.S. Women’s Amateur three consecutive years beginning in 1980. She then won three LPGA major championships right out of the box as a professional and, after taking time off to have two children, won four more majors, including the 1999 and 2002 U.S. Women’s Opens.

But the U.S. Senior Women’s Open remains an elusive goal.

In 2018, Inkster was second to Laura Davies by a whopping 10 strokes in the debut of the championship at Chicago Golf Club. The next year at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, she tied for second with Trish Johnson, two strokes behind Helen Alfredsson.

A victory in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open would put Inkster in a select club with JoAnne Carner, Carol Semple Thompson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three different USGA championships.

And make no mistake about it, Inkster is aware of that fact. But if she is to get it done this week, Inkster has a bit of work to do.

An opening round of 1-over-par 73 at Brooklawn Country Club left her six strokes off the lead with some extremely impressive names, such as U.S. Women’s Open champions Annika Sorenstam, Liselotte Neumann and Laura Davies, between Inkster and the top of the leader board.

Still, four decades of competitive golf at the highest levels have made her fully aware that championship golf is a multiday proposition.

“I’m not out of it,” Inkster said with her typical whimsy. “I’m not in it, but I’m not out of it.”

Inkster, who still plays a fairly active competitive schedule, was especially disappointed by last year’s postponement of this championship by the pandemic, because she wants as many opportunities to win it as possible.

“I’m really happy that Brooklawn stuck with us and we were able to come here in 2021 and play, because I’ve heard so many great things about it,” she said. “My mom reminded me last week that I actually did play here before, which I didn’t know. But she brought out the old photo albums, and yeah, there I was [in the 1979 U.S. Women’s Open.] I was a 19-year-old kid then, playing as an amateur.”

In Thursday’s opening round, Inkster made four bogeys and only one birdie in the first 13 holes, then rallied with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to get in the clubhouse at 73, still very much in contention.

“Actually, I played well,” Inkster said. “I drove it good, I putted well. I just didn’t take advantage of the par 5s.”

She played the four par-5 holes – several of which are reachable in two strokes – in a combined 2 over par, including a three-putt bogey on No. 11.

Retirement is an alien word to Inkster, especially when it comes to golf. There is simply nothing she’d rather be doing that getting ready for a big championship and then competing in it.

“I still really love to play,” she said. “During the pandemic, I was down in La Quinta, we have a place down there and I have a bunch of guys I play with. I love to play for fun. So it’s not like I hadn’t played at all. I played a couple LPGA events there trying to get ready for this. For me, this is a big tournament. Any time you can win a USGA title, it’s big, and last couple years, I finished second. So I’d like to move up a notch.”

Although disappointed by her opening-round 73, Inkster was far from despondent. For her, the thrill of the chase is a large part of the joy of winning.

“I fought back,” Inkster said, before heading to the practice tee to hit balls.

There is still a lot more golf to play in this U.S. Senior Women’s Open and Inkster has played in enough championships to know how quickly the tide can change.

As Inkster says, she’s not exactly in it, but she also far from out of it. She’s won enough times to know that if you just keep playing your ball as best you can, anything can happen.

Ron Sirak is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer who frequently contributes to USGA digital channels.