Fay Crocker led wire-to-wire[2] and won the first of her two major championships, four strokes ahead of runners-up Mary Lena Faulk and Louise Suggs.[1] From Uruguay, Crocker was the first international winner of the U.S. Women's Open. She posted a 72 in the second round on Friday in difficult blustery conditions, with winds of 40 mph (64 km/h), and had an eight shot lead after 36 holes.[3] A 79 (+7) in the wind in the third round on Saturday morning reduced it to a single stroke over Faulk, with Suggs another two strokes back.
Defending champion Babe Zaharias did not compete due to back surgery;[4] she also missed the 1953 edition due to colon cancer surgery and died in 1956.[5][6]
This was the second U.S. Women's Open played in Wichita; the first in 1950 was at Rolling Hills Country Club.
