CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Becky Morgan won 10 times during her days as an All-American at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. But since turning professional nearly three decades ago, there haven't been any really notable victories.
Not until Sunday, anyway.
The 50-year-old from Wales started the final round of the 2025 U.S. Women's Senior Open Championship in a three-way tie for first with Marina McBride and Connie Kelepouris, but Morgan got out of the gate quickly, with birdies on the first two holes at San Diego Country Club. Although she bogeyed the third, she never surrendered the lead.
She went on to shoot a 3-under-par 70, which gave her a 72-hole tab of 285 -- and a six-stroke victory. For the effort, she received $200,000.
"Yeah, I would not have dreamt this," she said afterward. "Since I started playing on the sort of Senior Tour, I've had some decent success, but obviously, nothing like this. Yeah, it's absolutely unbelievable."
Juli Inkster, who has five USGA titles on her resume, was one of only four other players to break par on Sunday. Her 71 put her at 291 and gave her sole possession of second place. It was the third time she's been the runner-up in this tournament.
Liselotte Neumann, who won the U.S. Women's Open in 1988, was alone in third at 292, after a 74.
The defending champion, Leta Lindley, who had played in this tournament three times and never finished worse than third, had to settle for a tie for fourth this time, with a 293. She, too, had a 74.
Annika Sorenstam won 97 tournaments as a professional before turning 50, and then, after turning 50, she won the Women's Senior Open on her first try, in 2021 -- by eight strokes. She was one of the four players to break par on Sunday. Her 72 gave her an aggregate of 295, and that put her in a tie for eighth with Janice Moodie, who shot 71.
Morgan ended the day with five birdies and two bogeys, which made her score card one of the cleanest of the day.
The two players she shared the lead with when the day began -- McBride and Kelepouris -- both had wild rides, although they ended up in the same place, tied with Lindley for fourth at 293, after both shot 78.
Kelepouris struggled from the start. She had only two birdies, which didn't come close to offsetting the five bogeys and one double that she had to sign for.
McBride, on the other hand, was the primary threat to Morgan for most of the day. She was only three behind when she teed off at the par-5 14th, but she pull-hooked her tee shot into a jungle left of the fairway, and by the time she finished the hole, she had a quadruple bogey 9.
After that, there was really no one to challenge Morgan. Having started her round with the two birdies and a bogey, she made six consecutive pars to finish the front nine at 1 under for the day. She went birdie-bogey-birdie on the first three holes of the back nine, and then made a couple of clutch putts to save par.
The second of those was an 8-footer at the 14th. It kept her lead over McBride from being reduced to two, and by the time McBride, who was playing in the group right behind Morgan, finished the hole, the lead was five, and it was Inkster -- not McBride -- in second place.
There were two Minnesotans who finished in the top 15 -- Michele Redman and Barb Moxness. Both closed with a 77, and they tied for 11th at 298.
Redman is a former University of Minnesota women's golf coach who won twice on the LPGA Tour, and has won once on what Morgan described at the women's "sort of Senior Tour."
Moxness, who played on the LPGA Tour for 10 years (0 wins, but 21 top 10s and 53 top 25s), won the Minnesota Girls Junior in 1970. That was a long time ago, and on Friday, Moxness, at 72 years, 3 months and 12 days, became the oldest player ever to make the cut in a U.S. Women's Senior Open.
And she also shot her age twice, actually beating it by 1 in both the first round and the third (71-79-71-77).
U.S. Senior Women's Open Championship
At San Diego Country Club
Par 73, 6,095 yards
Chula Vista, Calif.
Final Results
1. Becky Morgan, Wales 74-68-73-70--285 (-7)
2. Juli Inkster, Los Altos, Calif. 75-73-72-71--291
3. Liselotte Neumann, Sweden 73-71-74-74--292
T4. Leta Lindley, Palm Beach Gdns., Fla. 73-73-74-73--293
T4. Maria McBride, Sweden 73-70-72-78--293
T4. Corina Kelepouris, Canada 72-71-72-78--293
7. Trish Johnson, England 72-75-73-74--294
T8. Annika Sorenstam, Sweden 70-78-75-72--295
T8. Janice Moodie, Scotland 74-76-74-71--295
10. Mikino Kubo, Japan 73-75-76-73--297
T11. Karrie Webb, Australia 73-76-77-72--298
T11. Nobuko Kizawa, Japan 80-71-74-73--298
T11. Michele Redman, Plymouth 73-76-72-77--298
T11. Barb Moxness, Edina 71-79-71-77--298
T27. Karen Weiss, Afton 74-79-75-77--305
Missed cut -- 154
Lisa Grimes, Alexandria 77-80--157
Chiak Nagano, Japan 79-78--157