JoAnne Carner begins her quest for victory at the US Senior Women’s Open on Thursday afternoon, but ‘Big Mama’ is already turning heads in Pittsburgh before she even gets started.
The 85-year-old, a 43-time winner on the LPGA Tour and eight-time USGA champion, is among the participants in this week’s event at Fox Chapel Golf Club.
The Hall of Famer won his first USGA title in 1956 and nearly 70 years later, Carner still smokes cigarettes and hits the ball more than 200 yards.
This year, Carner is celebrating her 50th USGA championship and her dream in Pittsburgh is to make the cut.
It doesn’t matter that she hasn’t managed to reach the weekend in her previous five appearances. It doesn’t matter that some of her rivals are more than three decades younger than her.
JoAnne Carner, 85 years old and known as ‘Big Mama’, will take the field in the US Senior Women’s Open
The American still smokes cigarettes and smokes the ball more than 200 meters
This year, of the 120 participants, only the top 50 players – and the ties – will advance to the third and fourth rounds in Pittsburgh.
According to Golf week“Big Mama” joked that she might quit smoking this week, considering the number of stairs between the locker room and the gym at Fox Chapel.
She has tried to quit smoking before and she still strives to improve her distance off the tee, even at the age of 85.
Carner insisted she would retire from competitive golf in 2022. “I keep thinking I’m going to make it,” the two-time US Women’s Open champion said at the time.
“So I keep working on my game. I think this is finally it. It’s just hard work to get the whole game going. I let it go, unfortunately.”
The Hall of Famer first won a USGA title in 1956 and is still going strong nearly 70 years later
‘Big Mama’ currently hits the ball between 205 and 210 yards, but hopes to hit it 220 yards again
According to Golfweek, the former long hitter now hits the ball between 205 and 210 yards, but hopes to one day hit it 220 yards.
The 85-year-old is said to have taken lessons from a professional in Florida last week to improve her game.
“He showed me how messed up I was,” she said. “I became too wrist-shaped and too upright.”
“Big Mama” is the oldest player ever to compete in a USGA championship, having shot her age or better in the U.S. Senior Open six times.
She uses a golf cart because climbing hills is too difficult her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).