Rosie Jones built an extremely successful LPGA career by sheer strength of will. She maximized her ability to the fullest, not overpowering golf courses, but outthinking them; not overwhelming her opponents, but outlasting them. All that is missing among her 13 Tour wins is a major championship and that could come at this U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
Jones fashioned two subpar rounds at Brooklawn Country Club – 71 and 70 – and is at 3-under-par 141 going into the weekend, five strokes behind three-time U.S. Women’s Open Championship winner Annika Sorenstam. That would be a daunting task to most, but it’s simply a challenge to Rosie.
“I just want to keep trying, you know, chase her down,” Jones said Friday. “So, it’s a golf course that I want to beat and Annika is just a number on the board.”
That’s the feistiness – and determination – Rosie displayed throughout her 23 years on the LPGA Tour. Jones, who played college golf at Ohio State and competed on seven Solheim Cup teams before being USA captain in 2011, is short off the tee but long on passion, planning and putting.
In 1999, the fifth consecutive season she won a tournament, she was No. 155 in driving distance, averaging 228.9 yards, but sixth in accuracy, fourth in putting and ninth in scoring. What fans are seeing this week is vintage Rosie Jones. She is 87th in the field of 120 in driving distance, but T-12 in accuracy and T-4 in greens in regulation. She’s T-11 in putting and has yet to hit her stride with the flat stick.
“I’ve been working really hard for this for several years,” Jones said. “I just believe in myself. I believe in my work ethic, and I’m hoping that I continue to play and hit the ball as well as I have. I really thought I hit some solid shots today, even from the get-go, and just really didn’t capitalize with my putter.”
The majors have eluded Jones, although she made several determined runs. In 1984 at Salem Country Club in Massachusetts, Jones was second by one stroke as Hollis Stacy won her third U.S. Women’s Open. It was one of four times Jones was second in an LPGA major and one of the seven times she finished in the top 10 in 26 starts in the U.S. Women’s Open.
When faced with a challenge, Jones digs deep. In 2004, she had a business opportunity that required her going public about being gay. A travel agency that catered to lesbians offered her an endorsement deal. “It was a difficult decision because I had been living a secret publicly and was a little afraid to change that,” Jones said.
But one of Jones’ strengths on the golf course is thinking ahead – making a plan and following it. In fact, it’s a strength in everything she does.
“Before I made the Olivia announcement, I called the LPGA, all of my sponsors, my golf club affiliates in Atlanta, all the organizations that I was acting as a spokesperson, and a few close fellow players, to let them know what I was about to do,” she said. “I told them that this was the time to bail or prepare for the questions they may get. I was not given one ounce of negative feedback from those calls.”
At 61, Jones is semi-retired, doing woodworking, boating and living with her partner of 16 years, Carrie Sexton, on Hilton Head Island. “Our new addition is Berty, the puppy girl,” Jones said. “And I’m working hard on my game for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, Senior LPGA and the Legends Tour.”
When Jones speaks of her play this week at Brooklawn Country Club, the words are framed by a brilliant smile and punctuated with a twinkle in her eyes that says how much she is enjoying herself.
“About six months ago I started working with a trainer doing some TPI exercises, and really has helped strengthen my core, my legs, getting better flexibility, just a better move through the ball,” Jones said. “It’s funny that after 50 years I’m finally getting this game a little bit.”
Jones has turned all those years on the LPGA and all those near-misses in the majors into a beginning for what’s next rather than an ending of what was.
“I'm just trying to rely on my past experience, and the Open is always the hardest tournament,” said Jones, who will begin Round 3 on Saturday at 11:48 a.m. EDT, playing with Kim Williams and Catriona Matthew. “You know, just have to be really patient and I think I’ve been doing that really well.”
Does she like where she is going into the weekend?
“I do,” she said. “I sure do. I’m in pretty good shape. I think Annika is not really running away with it yet.”
Rosie Jones has been chasing greatness for decades and at times catching it. No part of that pursuit scares her. In fact, it’s what she lives for. Once again, this weekend Jones will try to outthink a golf course and outlast an opponent. It’s what she does.
Ron Sirak is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer who frequently contributes to USGA digital channels.
