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.
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. 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";http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090420/NEWS01/90420077 she is also that tournament's all-time money leader "by a wide margin."
At the conclusion of the 2006 U.S. Women's Open, in which she finished tied for 57th, she retired from competitive golf; as a symbol of her departure she removed her golf shoes, visor, and glove and placed them on the side of the 18th green.
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. She came out of retirement in 2008 to play the Corning Classic on a sponsor's exemption. She missed the cut by four strokes.
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.
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. Among people who knew her, she had been out since the late 1970s.
Professional wins (25) LPGA Tour wins (13) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Sep 7, 1987Rail Charity Golf Classic−8 (69-74-67-69=279)1 stroke Nancy Lopez2Apr 24, 1988USX Golf Classic −13 (67-69-69-70=275)Playoff Kathy Postlewait3Aug 28, 1988Nestle World Championship −9 (70-69-66-74=279)1 stroke Liselotte Neumann4Sep 25, 1988Santa Barbara Open−4 (70-70-72=212)3 strokes Missie McGeorge5Jun 2, 1991Rochester International−12 (69-69-72-66=276)2 strokes Danielle Ammaccapane Brandie Burton6Aug 30, 1995Pinewild Women's Championship−5 (72-70-69=211)Playoff Dottie Mochrie7May 26, 1996LPGA Corning Classic−12 (67-69-71-69=276)2 strokes Val Skinner8Jun 25, 1997LPGA Corning Classic−11 (72-69-71-65=277)Playoff Tammie Green9Jun 1, 1998Wegmans Rochester International−9 (74-69-64-72=279)2 strokes Juli Inkster10Aug 22, 1999Firstar LPGA Classic−9 (72-67-68=207)Playoff Becky Iverson Jan Stephenson11Apr 29, 2001Kathy Ireland Championship−12 (66-67-68-67=268)Playoff Mi-Hyun Kim12Jul 22, 2001Sybase Big Apple Classic−12 (70-66-66-70=272)1 stroke Laura Diaz13May 11, 2003Asahi Ryokuken International Championship−15 (66-68-69-70=273)3 strokes Wendy Ward
LPGA Tour playoff record (5–4) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11984Rochester International Kathy WhitworthLost to par on first extra hole 21988USX Golf Classic Kathy PostlewaitWon with birdie on first extra hole31992Crestar Classic Juli Inkster Betsy King Nancy LopezInkster won with eagle on first extra hole41991 Safeco Classic Pat BradleyLost to birdie on second extra hole51995 Pinewild Women's Championship Dottie MochrieWon with birdie on fifth extra hole61997LPGA Corning Classic Tammie GreenWon with birdie on first extra hole71998Standard Register PING Liselotte NeumannLost to birdie on third extra hole81999Firstar LPGA Classic Becky Iverson Jan StephensonWon with par on fourth extra holeStephenson eliminated by par on first hole92001Kathy Ireland Championship Mi-Hyun KimWon with birdie on first extra hole
Ladies European Tour (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1May 14, 1982United Friendly Worthing Open−2 (73-73-71=217) 6 strokes Mickey Walker2Jul 23, 1982Ladies Spanish Open +8 (76-74-74=224)5 strokes Jenny Lee Smith
Other wins (1) 1997 Gillette Tour Challenge (with Juli Inkster)
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 Tournament 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Kraft Nabisco ChampionshipT52T19T2443CUTLPGA ChampionshipT44T46T19T15T3T35T61U.S. Women's OpenT43T11253T35T9T19T57du Maurier Classic 4T28T29738T46 Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Kraft Nabisco ChampionshipT6T23T32T62T52T10CUTT18T13T8LPGA Championship2T11T35T17CUTT33T69CUTCUTT5T28U.S. Women's OpenT16T62T25CUTCUTT5T29T33T19T25T4du Maurier ClassicT61T6T50T25T16T16T10T7T22T92 Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Kraft Nabisco ChampionshipT28T3T11T82CUTLPGA ChampionshipT12CUTT3T31T49U.S. Women's OpenT39T229T20T19T57CUTWomen's British OpenT12CUTCUTCUT
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeANA Inspiration 0 1 2 4 8 14 22 19U.S. Women's Open 0 1 0 3 5 14 26 23Women's PGA Championship 0 1 2 4 4 9 23 19Women's British Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1du Maurier Classic 0 1 1 3 9 13 18 18Totals 0 4 5 14 26 51 93 80 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 Year LPGA wins Earnings ($) Money list rank Average198202,86912774.5198364,9552773.57198481,7931973.27198566,6653072.87198671,3993372.7219871188,0001071.9119883323,392371.5719890110,6713272.4519900353,832671.4819911281,0891271.8719920204,0962571.6419930320,9641171.8519940123,6834272.2219951426,9571071.6419961275,5921871.7619971381,2361571.7719981395,2411871.5119991583,796970.9920000643,054971.2120012785,010670.5120020722,4121070.7620031808,7851070.2920040473,6162571.2220050615,4992071.58
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 List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
References
External links