The 2026 U.S. Senior Women's Open took place August 20–23 at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, and was the eighth U.S. Senior Women's Open. It was a professional golf tournament organized by the United States Golf Association (USGA), open to women over 50 years of age and one of two yearly senior women's major golf championships.

Maria McBride won the tournament by two strokes over Annika Sörenstam.

Venue The championship course, Barton Hills Country Club, located in Washtenaw County six kilometres north of the city center of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was designed by Donald Ross and opened 1922. Restoration of the course in 2012 was led by Ronald Pritchard.

The club hosted the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1998 and the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur in 2008.

Course layout The length was different between each round. Approximate length shown.

HoleYardsPar HoleYardsPar1 342 4 10 474 52 524 5 11 161 33 400 4 12 337 44 335 4 13 382 45 139 3 14 353 46 358 4 15 390 47 383 4 16 169 38 156 3 17 475 59 511 5 18 348 4 Out 3,148 36 In 3,089 36 Total 6,237 72

Format The walking-only tournament was played over 72 holes of stroke play, with the top 50 and ties making the 36-hole cut. Field The championship was open to any female professional or amateur golfer who was 50 years of age or over as of August 20, 2026, however restricted by a certain handicap level.

120 players entered the competition, 85 professionals and 35 amateurs. They were either exempt through some of several exemption categories or through sectional qualifying at 16 different sites around the United States during June and July 2026. 61 players were exempt and 54 of them entered the tournament. 66 players qualified through qualifying tournaments.

Exempt from qualifying Below are listed exemption categories and players exempt, if any, under those. Each exemption category required players to have reached their 50th birthday on or before August 20, 2026. Players exempt under more than one category are mentioned only under the first category they were exempt. Players written in italic did not play in the tournament.

1. Winners of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship (10-year exemption): Laura Davies (did not play), Helen Alfredsson, Annika Sörenstam, Jill McGill (did not play), Trish Johnson, Leta Lindley, Becky Morgan

2. From the 2025 U.S. Senior Women’s Open, the 20 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 20th place: Juli Inkster, Liselotte Neumann, Maria McBride, Corina Kelepouris, Janice Moodie, Mikino Kubo, Karrie Webb, Nobuko Kizawa, Michele Redman, Barb Moxness, Moira Dunn-Bohls, Laura Diaz, Catriona Matthew, Audra Burks, Lara Tennant (a), Pat Hurst, Yuko Saito

3. From the 2025 U.S. Senior Women's Open Championship, the amateur(s) returning the lowest 72-hole score:

4. Winners of the U.S. Women's Open Championship (10-year exemption) Hollis Stacy, Amy Alcott (did not play), Jan Stephenson (did not play), Jane Geddes

5. From the 2025 and 2026 U.S. Women's Open Championships, any player returning a 72-hole score

6. Any professional or applicant for reinstatement who has won the U.S. Women's Amateur (three-year exemption)

7. Winners of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship (must be an amateur; five-year exemption)

8. Winners of the 2024 and 2025 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship, and the 2025 runner-up (must be an amateur) Nadene Gole (a), Dawn Woodard (a), Sue Wooster (a)

9. Winners of the 2024 and 2025 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship (must be an amateur)

10. Playing members of the two most current United States and Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup Teams, and the two most current United States Women's World Amateur Teams (must be an amateur)

11. Winners of the LPGA Legends Championship 2021–2026, and the runners-up from 2025–2026

12. From the 2026 LPGA Legends Championship, the 10 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place (event held August 13–15, 2026)

13. From the final 2025 Legends of the LPGA Performance Points list, the top 30 point leaders and ties Christa Johnson, Ashli Bunch, Heather Bowie Young, Suzy Green-Roebuck, Nicole Jeray, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Lisa Grimes, Maggie Will, Tracy Hanson, Stefania Croce, Karen Weiss, Cathy Johnston-Forbes, Charlotta Sörenstam 14. Winners of the Legends of the LPGA co-sponsored individual events 2024-2026

15. Winners of the 2021–2025 LPGA Professionals Championship (Championship Division), and the five lowest scorers and ties from the 2025 Championship

16. From the 2025 LPGA Professionals Championship (Senior Division), the three lowest scorers and ties Lisa DePaulo, Sara Sanders, Angela Buzminski, Silvia Cavalleri

17. Winners of the 2025 R&A Women's Senior Amateur and 2025 Canadian Women's Senior Amateur Championships (must be an amateur) Kathy Hartwiger (a), Shelly Stouffer (a)

18. Winners of the following events when deemed a major by the LPGA Tour: Chevron Championship (1983-present); The Evian Championship (2013-present); Women's Open (1979-present); Women's PGA Championship (1955-present); Titleholders Championship (1946-1966 and 1972); or Western Open (1930-1967). (10-year exemption) Alice Miller (did not play), Donna Andrews, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, Tammie Green, Brandie Burton

19. From the LPGA Tour Career Official Money List, the top 10 age-eligible players who are not otherwise exempt as of February 11, 2026 Rosie Jones (did not play), Rachel Hetherington, Wendy Ward, Carin Hjalmarsson, Danielle Ammaccapane, Michelle McGann

20. Winners of LPGA Tour co-sponsored events 2021–2026

21. Playing members of the United States and European Solheim Cup Teams 2016–2025

22. From the 2025 final Ladies European Tour and Japan LPGA Tour career money lists, the top five money leaders

23. Special exemptions

Qualifiers 66 additional players qualified through sectional qualifying tournaments, taking place June 2 – July 16, 2026, at 16 different sites across the United States. (Players are mentioned in order of date of qualifying and place finished within each qualifying competition.)

Charlaine Hirst, Clarissa Childs, Julie Streng (a), Jane Noble, Lydia Shell (a), Chieko Amanuma, Martha Leach (a), Elaine Crosby, Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll (a), Joanne Lim (a), Shelly Haywood, Eunice Cho (a) (entered alternate), Tara Joy-Connelly (a), C.J. Reeves, Kay Daniel (a), Cindy Lee-Pridgen, Kirsten Larson, Jamie Fischer, Christy Longfield, Shannon Hudson (a), Claudia Ramirez (a), Lynne Cowan (a), Ailam Newkirk (a), Karen Garcia (a), Dana Ebster, Yukako Matsumoto, Sherry Andonian, Terra Shehee, Kayoko Hayashi, Fiona Watson (a) (entered alternate), Miho Gohara, Kimberly Hulst (a), Martha Linscott (a), Jean Bartholomew, Jane Fitzgerald (a), Brenda Corrie-Kuehn (a), Denise Killeen, Deb Jackson (a), Suzy Whaley, Sue Ginter Landry, Laurel Kean, Pat Shriver, Melissa Williams, Smriti Mehra, Chie Furusawa, Catrin Nilsmark, Susan Fasoldt, Sue Curtin (a), Susie Redman, Kris Tschetter, Yuko Kogasaki, Kate Golden

Also qualified (late alternate entrencies) Laurie Brower, Laura Coble (a), Joellyn Crocks, Pam Elders, Stephenie Harris (a), Linda Jeffery, Stefani Markovich (a), Shannon Mason (a), Sue Billek Nyhus, Jayne Pardus (a), Ellen Port (a), Sara Sanders, Kim Shek (a)

Round summaries First round Thursday, August 20, 2025 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Annika Sörenstam 68 −4T2 Jackie Gallagher-Smith 69 −3 Cathy Johnston-Forbes 69 Michele Redman 695 Juli Inkster 70 −2T6 Nicole Jeray 71 −1 Christy Longfield 71 Becky Morgan 71 Karrie Webb 71

Second round Friday, August 21, 2026

52 players, 46 professionals and six amateurs, made the 36-hole-cut at 10 over par. The oldest player in the field, 73-year-old Barb Moxness, made the cut, with a seven-shot-margin, after shooting har age, with 1-over-par-score of 73 in the first round and adding a score one shot worse in the second round.

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Michele Redman 69-68=137 −7T2 Becky Morgan 71-69=140 −4 Annika Sörenstam 68-72=140 Karrie Webb 71-69=1405 Jackie Gallagher-Smith 69-72=141 −36 Catriona Matthew 72-70=142 −2T7 Cathy Johnston-Forbes 69-74=143 −1 Maria McBride 73-70=143 Catrin Nilsmark 72-71=143T10 Juli Inkster 70-75=145 +1 Christy Longfield 71-74=145

Third round Saturday, August 22, 2026 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Maria McBride 73-70-66=209 −7T2 Becky Morgan 71-69-73=213 −3 Annika Sörenstam 68-72-73=2134 Catriona Matthew 72-70-72=214 −2T5 Jackie Gallagher-Smith 69-72-75=216 E Patricia Meunier-Lebouc 73-75-68=216 Michele Redman 69-68-79=2168 Karrie Webb 71-69-77=217 +19 Catrin Nilsmark 72-71-76=219 +3

Final round Sunday, August 23, 2026

With two birdies and an eagle in the final round, Maria McBride held her lead from the third round and won the championship. Runner-up Annika Sörenstam birdied the 17th hole when McBride made bogey, but with both players making par on the last hole McBride still won with two shots. With the win, she completed the "senior slam" winning both of the two senior women's major championships in the same year, the U.S. Senior Women's Open and the LPGA Legends Championship. Defending champion Becky Morgan finished tied seventh. Xiaolong Zhong, China, finished best amateur in 17th place.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parPrize money ($)1 Maria McBride73-70-66-73=282 −6 200,0002 Annika Sörenstam 68-72-73-71=284 −4 108,0003 Karrie Webb 71-69-77-70=287 −1 67,0424 Catriona Matthew 72-70-72-74=288 E 46,7085 Patricia Meunier-Lebouc 73-75-68-73=289 +1 38,7606 Jackie Gallagher-Smith 69-72-75-74=290 +2 34,344T7 Laura Diaz 76-74-70-72=292 +4 28,064 Becky Morgan 71-69-73-79=292 Charlotta Sörenstam 72-76-75-69=29210 Leta Lindley 73-77-71-72=293 +5 23,059

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