PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Susie Maxwell Berning, the three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion who was a pioneer in competing on the LPGA Tour as a mother, died Wednesday after a two-year battle with lung cancer. She was 83.

The LPGA said Berning, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2022, died at her home in Palm Springs.

“We are saddened by the passing of one of our greats,” LPGA Tour Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a statement. “Susie Maxwell Berning was not only a fantastic player and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, but also a wonderful ambassador for the LPGA and women’s sports as a whole.

“We will always look to her as a role model when it comes to balancing personal and professional life, winning major championships while raising a family. Susie was a strong, trailblazing athlete who I personally admired and whose legacy will continue to inspire future generations of athletes.”

Berning was inducted into the World Gold Hall of Fame in a class with Tiger Woods and won the US Women’s Open in 1968, 1972 and 1973 and the then major Western Open in 1965. She had 11 career LPGA Tour titles and was the rookie if that year in 1964.

Susie Maxwell was born in Pasadena, California and moved to Oklahoma City with her family when she was 13 years old. She was introduced to golf in an unusual way.

She was walking her foal on a bridle path when it became startled and broke free, and the young girl chased after it across the fairways and greens of Lincoln Park Golf Course. The head pro said he would forget the incident if she taught his children to ride, and the pro eventually invited her to the course where Patty Berg was teaching a class.

“I said to myself, ‘Oh man, she’s having a lot of fun. “If that’s what golf is about, I think I want to give it a try,” Berning said.

She won three straight state high school titles and was the first player to receive a golf scholarship to Oklahoma City University, where she played on the men’s team.

“Golf has been great for me,” Berning said in 2021 when she was elected to the Hall. “During my golf career I was able to start a family, which was the icing on the cake. That’s one of the reasons why I haven’t played as many years or as many events. But when I played, I had fun.”

Family, including her two daughters, came first.

She only played nine times in 1968 because she took time off for her honeymoon after marrying Dale Berning. That year she won the first of her three US Women’s Open titles.

She played only seven tournaments in 1970, when she was pregnant with her daughter Robin, and returned to win the Women’s Open in 1972 and 1973. She starred twice in 1977, the year she gave birth to a second daughter, Cindy.

“I always thought that having my own family on tour was not only a blessing but also an advantage,” Berning said upon her recording. “No matter how the round went, I was a mom first. My priority has always been to make sure their day goes well, to spend time with them, to show and teach them that their goals are worth pursuing, that tough competition can happen in a loving environment.”

Berning, a student of Jim Flick, became a renowned teacher. She commuted between the Reserve Club in Palm Springs and the Maroon Creek Country Club in Aspen, Colorado.

“I still believe we should swing the golf club,” Berning said in 2021. “We don’t try to hit the ball with our core. My hands are the most important thing I have in golf. And the second most important thing is my feet. That’s how I played. I swung the bat.”

___

AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Denver 7+ Colorado News Latest Headlines | October 3rd, 7 a.m