# 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.

## 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"; she is also that tournament's all-time money leader "by a wide margin."
   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.
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. | 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. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(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 by par on first hole |
| 9 | 2001 | Kathy Ireland Championship | Mi-Hyun Kim | Won with birdie on first extra hole |

### Ladies European Tour (2)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
| 1 | May 14, 1982 | United Friendly Worthing Open | −2 (73-73-71=217) | 6 strokes | Mickey Walker |
| 2 | Jul 23, 1982 | Ladies 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 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| 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 |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| 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 |
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2009 |
| 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 | | |
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied

### Summary

| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
| ANA Inspiration | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 19 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 23 |
| Women's PGA Championship | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 23 | 19 |
| Women's British Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| du Maurier Classic | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 18 | 18 |
| Totals | 0 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 28 | 52 | 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 | Average |
| 1982 | 0 | 2,869 | 127 | 74.5 |
| 1983 | 0 | 64,955 | 27 | 73.57 |
| 1984 | 0 | 81,793 | 19 | 73.27 |
| 1985 | 0 | 66,665 | 30 | 72.87 |
| 1986 | 0 | 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)