Susie Maxwell Berning (born July 22, 1941) is a retired American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1964 and won four major championships and eleven LPGA Tour victories in all. She also competed under her maiden name Susie Maxwell from 1964 to 1968. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2022.^[1]^[2]

Amateur career

Maxwell was born in Pasadena, California. Her family moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when she was 13. After taking up golf at the age of 15, she immediately won three-straight Oklahoma State High School Championships. She also won the Oklahoma City Women's Amateur from 1959 to 1961. In 1963, she won the Oklahoma Women's Amateur. She was the first woman to receive a golf scholarship from Oklahoma City University, where she competed on the men's team and she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.

Professional career

She turned pro and joined the LPGA Tour in 1964, and earned LPGA Rookie of the Year honors. She won her first tournament in 1965 at the Muskogee Civitan Open. She was named Most Improved Player for 1967. She won 11 times on the Tour, a high proportion of her wins coming in major championships, the 1965 Women's Western Open and the U.S. Women's Open in 1968, 1972 and 1973. However her form was inconsistent from her late twenties on, with the last of her three top-10 finishes on the money list coming in 1969. She stayed on the Tour for many years, though she did not always play full-time, and played 13 events as late as 1995. She made her final appearance on the Tour in 1996.

Since retiring from tour play, Berning has become a well-respected teaching professional spending time at the Nicholas-Flick Golf Academy, and now dividing her time between The Reserve Club in Palm Springs, California and Maroon Creek Country Club in Aspen, Colorado. She has two daughters, Robin Doctor and Cindy Molchany.

Professional wins (13)

LPGA Tour wins (11)

Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (4)
Other LPGA Tour (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	May 16, 1965	Muskogee Civitan Open	−3 (71-72-70=213)	5 strokes	Kathy Cornelius Judy Kimball Mickey Wright
2	Jun 13, 1965	Women's Western Open	−2 (73-72-76-69=290)	3 strokes	Marlene Hagge
3	Apr 2, 1967	Louise Suggs Invitational	+8 (75-72-77=224)	Playoff	Sandra Haynie
4	Jun 18, 1967	Milwaukee Jaycee Open	E (68-73-75=216)	5 strokes	Barbara Romack Judy Kimball Judy Rankin Peggy Wilson
5	Jul 7, 1968	U.S. Women's Open	+5 (69-73-76-71=289)	3 strokes	Mickey Wright
6	Jun 8, 1969	Lady Carling Open	−6 (69-74-70=213)	1 stroke	Donna Caponi
7	Jun 22, 1969	Pabst Ladies Classic	−5 (69-71-71=211)	1 stroke	Donna Caponi Clifford Ann Creed Shirley Englehorn
8	Jul 2, 1972	U.S. Women's Open	+11 (79-76-73-71=299)	1 stroke	Kathy Ahern Pam Barnett Judy Rankin
9	Jun 24, 1973	Heritage Village Open	−12 (68-70-69=207)	4 strokes	Sandra Haynie
10	Jul 22, 1973	U.S. Women's Open	−3 (73-77-69-72=290)	5 strokes	Gloria Ehret Shelley Hamlin
11	Jul 25, 1976	Lady Keystone Open	−1 (72-71-72=215)	3 strokes	Pat Bradley Sandra Haynie

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1966	Lady Carling Open	Clifford Ann Creed	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2	1967	Louise Suggs Invitational	Sandra Haynie	Won with birdie on second extra hole

Other wins (2)

1975 Lady Keystone Open
1997 Sprint Senior Challenge

Major championships

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1965	Women's Western Open	−2 (73-72-76-69=290)	3 strokes	Marlene Hagge
1968	U.S. Women's Open	+5 (69-73-76-71=289)	3 strokes	Mickey Wright
1972	U.S. Women's Open	+11 (79-73-76-71=299)	1 stroke	Kathy Ahern, Pam Barnett, Judy Rankin
1973	U.S. Women's Open	+2 (72-77-69-72=290)	5 strokes	Gloria Ehret, Shelley Hamlin

References

External links

U.S. Women's Open champions

† event won in a playoff; ‡ winner held lead wire-to-wire; # event won by an amateur; ∞ event won in match-play

Women's Western Open champions

Women's Western Open champions
Match-play era	1930 Lucia Mida 1931 June Beebe 1932 Jane Weiller 1933 June Beebe 1934 Marian McDougall 1935 Opal Hill 1936 Opal Hill 1937 Helen Hicks 1938 Bea Barrett 1939 Helen Dettweiler 1940 Babe Zaharias 1941 Patty Berg 1942 Betty Jameson 1943 Patty Berg 1944 Babe Zaharias 1945 Babe Zaharias 1946 Louise Suggs 1947 Louise Suggs 1948 Patty Berg 1949 Louise Suggs 1950 Babe Zaharias 1951 Patty Berg 1952 Betsy Rawls 1953 Louise Suggs 1954 Betty Jameson
Stroke-play era	1955 Patty Berg 1956 Beverly Hanson 1957 Patty Berg 1958 Patty Berg 1959 Betsy Rawls 1960 Joyce Ziske† 1961 Mary Lena Faulk 1962 Mickey Wright† 1963 Mickey Wright 1964 Carol Mann 1965 Susie Maxwell 1966 Mickey Wright 1967 Kathy Whitworth
† indicates the event was won in a playoff