Rosie Jones (golfer)

Rosie Jones (born November 13, 1959) is an American professional golfer, with 13 LPGA Tour career victories and nearly $8.4 million in tournament earnings.[3]

Rosie Jones
Personal information
Born (1959-11-13) November 13, 1959
Santa Ana, California
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Nationality United States
ResidenceAtlanta, Georgia, USA
PartnerCarrie Sexton[1]
Career
CollegeOhio State University
Turned professional1982
Retired2006[2]
Current tour(s)Legends Tour (joined 2006)
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour (joined 1982)
Professional wins25
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour13
Ladies European Tour2
Other10
Best results in LPGA major championships
ANA Inspiration2nd: 2005
Women's PGA C'ship2nd: 1990
U.S. Women's Open2nd: 1984
du Maurier Classic2nd: 2000
Women's British OpenT12: 2001
Achievements and awards
AIAW All-American1981

Amateur career

Jones was born in Santa Ana, California. In her amateur career, she was a three time New Mexico Junior Champion (1974–76) and won the New Mexico State Championship in 1979.

Jones attended Ohio State University where in 1981 she was an AIAW All-American.

Professional career

Jones qualified for the LPGA Tour by tying for seventh at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in July 1982.

Jones's best position on the LPGA money list was third in 1988, when she was tied as the winning-most player with three victories, including the LPGA World Championship; she won that championship with a one-shot victory over Liselotte Neumann, that year's U.S. Open champion.[4] She completed her career with thirteen LPGA Tour titles. She also played for the United States in the Solheim Cup seven times. She placed second in a major tournament four times (1984 U.S. Open; 1991 LPGA Championship; 2000 du Maurier Classic; 2005 Kraft Nabisco Championship), but never won a major tournament.

Jones achieved back-to-back wins in 1996-97 at the LPGA Corning Classic, earning her the nickname "Queen of Corning";[5] she is also that tournament's all-time money leader "by a wide margin."[2]

I'm proud of my career. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I wish I'd won a major, but I gave it my whole heart on every shot. And I've gotten more from the game than I could ever give back.

Jones, upon her retirement from the LPGA tour[3]

At the conclusion of the 2006 U.S. Women's Open, in which she finished tied for 57th, she retired from competitive golf;[2] as a symbol of her departure she removed her golf shoes, visor, and glove and placed them on the side of the 18th green.[3]

Since retiring from full-time play, Jones has competed on the Legends Tour, winning two of the five non-team tournaments in 2007. She has also worked as a commentator for the Golf Channel.[6] She came out of retirement in 2008[2] to play the Corning Classic on a sponsor's exemption. She missed the cut by four strokes.[5]

In 2009, she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open; she missed the cut at the tournament by three strokes.

In February 2010, Jones was named the captain of the U.S. team for the 2011 Solheim Cup.[7]

Personal life

In 2004, Jones came out publicly as lesbian, an announcement timed with her acceptance of a sponsorship from Olivia, a travel agency that targets lesbians.[8] Among people who knew her, she had been out since the late 1970s.[9]

Professional wins (25)

LPGA Tour wins (13)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Sep 7, 1987 Rail Charity Golf Classic −8 (69-74-67-69=279) 1 stroke Nancy Lopez
2 Apr 24, 1988 USX Golf Classic −13 (67-69-69-70=275) Playoff Kathy Postlewait
3 Aug 28, 1988 Nestle World Championship −9 (70-69-66-74=279) 1 stroke Liselotte Neumann
4 Sep 25, 1988 Santa Barbara Open −4 (70-70-72=212) 3 strokes Missie McGeorge
5 Jun 2, 1991 Rochester International −12 (69-69-72-66=276) 2 strokes Danielle Ammaccapane
Brandie Burton
6 Aug 30, 1995 Pinewild Women's Championship −5 (72-70-69=211) Playoff Dottie Mochrie
7 May 26, 1996 LPGA Corning Classic −12 (67-69-71-69=276) 2 strokes Val Skinner
8 Jun 25, 1997 LPGA Corning Classic −11 (72-69-71-65=277) Playoff Tammie Green
9 Jun 1, 1998 Wegmans Rochester International −9 (74-69-64-72=279) 2 strokes Juli Inkster
10 Aug 22, 1999 Firstar LPGA Classic −9 (72-67-68=207) Playoff Becky Iverson
Jan Stephenson
11 Apr 29, 2001 Kathy Ireland Championship −12 (66-67-68-67=268) Playoff Mi-Hyun Kim
12 Jul 22, 2001 Sybase Big Apple Classic −12 (70-66-66-70=272) 1 stroke Laura Diaz
13 May 11, 2003 Asahi Ryokuken International Championship −15 (66-68-69-70=273) 3 strokes Wendy Ward

LPGA Tour playoff record (5–4)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1984 Rochester International Kathy Whitworth Lost to par on first extra hole
2 1988 USX Golf Classic Kathy Postlewait Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1992 Crestar Classic Juli Inkster
Betsy King
Nancy Lopez
Inkster won with eagle on first extra hole
4 1991 Safeco Classic Pat Bradley Lost to birdie on second extra hole
5 1995 Pinewild Women's Championship Dottie Mochrie Won with birdie on fifth extra hole
6 1997 LPGA Corning Classic Tammie Green Won with birdie on first extra hole
7 1998 Standard Register PING Liselotte Neumann Lost to birdie on third extra hole
8 1999 Firstar LPGA Classic Becky Iverson
Jan Stephenson
Won with par on fourth extra hole
Stephenson eliminated with par on first hole
9 2001 Kathy Ireland Championship Mi-Hyun Kim Won with birdie on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour (2)

Other wins (1)

Legends Tour wins (9)

  • 2007 Wendy's Charity Challenge, Legends Tour Open Championship
  • 2009 Kinoshita Pearl Classic
  • 2010 Legends Tour Open Championship
  • 2012 Walgreens Charity Classic
  • 2013 Harris Golf Charity Classic
  • 2014 Wendy's Charity Challenge
  • 2017 Wendy's Charity Classic
  • 2019 BJ's Charity Championship (with Michele Redman)

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament198119821983198419851986198719881989
Kraft Nabisco Championship T52 T19 T24 4 3 CUT
LPGA Championship T44 T46 T19 T15 T3 T35 T61
U.S. Women's Open T43 T11 2 T28 T35 7 T9 8
du Maurier Classic 4 T28 T29 7 T9 8 T46
Tournament19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000
Kraft Nabisco Championship T6 T23 T32 T62 T52 T10 CUT T18 T13 T8
LPGA Championship 2 T11 T35 T17 CUT T33 T69 CUT CUT T5 T28
U.S. Women's Open T16 T62 T25 CUT CUT T5 T29 T33 T19 T25 T4
du Maurier Classic T61 T6 T50 T25 T16 T16 T10 T7 T22 T9 2
Tournament200120022003200420052006200720082009
Kraft Nabisco Championship T28 T3 T11 T8 2 CUT
LPGA Championship T12 CUT T3 T31 T49
U.S. Women's Open T39 T22 9 T20 T19 T57 CUT
Women's British Open T12 CUT CUT CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
ANA Inspiration01248142219
U.S. Women's Open01037152623
Women's PGA Championship0124492319
Women's British Open00000141
du Maurier Classic01029131818
Totals0441328529380
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 23 (1981 U.S. Women's Open - 1988 du Maurier Classic)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 6 (1986 du Maurier Classic - 1988 Kraft Nabisco)

LPGA Tour career summary

YearLPGA winsEarnings ($)Money list rankAverage
1982 0 2,869 127 74.5
1983 64,955 27 73.57
1984 81,793 19 73.27
1985 66,665 30 72.87
1986 71,399 33 72.72
1987 1 188,000 10 71.91
1988 3 323,392 3 71.57
1989 0 110,671 32 72.45
1990 0 353,832 6 71.48
1991 1 281,089 12 71.87
1992 0 204,096 25 71.64
1993 0 320,964 11 71.85
1994 0 123,683 42 72.22
1995 1 426,957 10 71.64
1996 1 275,592 18 71.76
1997 1 381,236 15 71.77
1998 1 395,241 18 71.51
1999 1 583,796 9 70.99
2000 0 643,054 9 71.21
2001 2 785,010 6 70.51
2002 0 722,412 10 70.76
2003 1 808,785 10 70.29
2004 0 473,616 25 71.22
2005 0 615,499 20 71.58

Team appearances

Professional

  • Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 1990 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998 (winners), 2000, 2002 (winners), 2003, 2005 (winners)
  • Handa Cup (representing the United States): 2006 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2008 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2010 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2012 (tie, Cup retained), 2013, 2014 (winners), 2015 (winners)

See also

References

  1. "Rosie Jones: LGPA Golfing 25 Years, and Still Going Strong". Lavender Magazine. June 20, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  2. "Rosie Jones comes out of retirement to play Corning". ESPN. Associated Press. May 21, 2008.
  3. Shedloski, Dave (July 5, 2006). "Golf World: After Women's Open, Jones calls it a career". ESPN.
  4. "Golf; Jones Loses Lead, Then Wins". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 29, 1988.
  5. http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090420/NEWS01/90420077
  6. "The Golf Channel Adds Rosie Jones to LPGA Coverage". LPGA. Archived from the original on October 27, 2006.
  7. "Jones named 2011 U.S. Solheim Cup team captain". LPGA. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010.
  8. "Rosie Jones is gay, so what?". Golf Digest. April 9, 2004. Archived from the original on April 9, 2004. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  9. Flynn, Kaki (April 9, 2007). "Interview With Rosie Jones". After Ellen. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
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