85-Year-Old, Cigarette-Smoking Golfer JoAnne Carner Shoots Her Age At U.S. Women’s Senior Open, Says “I’m Headed To The Bar” After Striping Tee Shot On 18

Ready to meet a living legend in the sports world?

The names JoAnne Carner. You’ve probably never heard of her, and that’s okay… because that’s about to change. The 43-time LPGA Tour winner and 8-time USGA champion is one of the icons of the sport. Her nickname is “Big Mama,” and at the age of 85-years-old, she’s still playing competitive golf.

And smoking cigarettes.

At this year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open, the seasoned golfing veteran had the goal of making the cut. When a golfer gets into their 80s, another goal that often comes into play is shooting a score that’s lower than or matches their age. That was another one of JoAnne Carner’s goals when she teed it up yesterday.

She might be up there in age, but that doesn’t keep her from hitting her drives way out there. Carner can still blast it off the tee over 200 yards, and that certainly helps her keep up the championship-level golf she’s become famous for over the years.

Here’s the video of Carner ripping it off the tee to start the tournament yesterday:

That was the first of many great shots that Carner hit during her first round. Remarkably, the 85-year-old played 18 holes at 14-over-par, or to put it another way, “shot her age.” She reportedly had a chance for her score to even break her age if she would have parred the last hole. Though the LPGA legend ended up bogeying, she apparently dropped an all-time-line when someone told her that she hit a good tee shot on 18.

It appears something was motivating “Big Mama” as she finished out her round:

“That’s cause I’m headed to the bar.”

After Carner finished her round, she took a moment to speak to a reporter from Golfweek about her round, saying:

“I played really bad on the back. I didn’t putt well. Then I lost my swing temporarily. I hit a couple shots that I thought were good, but not having played the course but one time, I ended up in trouble, in one of those bunkers, and you just have to hit it out.”

She had only played the course one time prior, played bad on the back, and STILL managed to shoot her age. Someone needs to start putting the ESPN 30 for 30 on her together as soon as possible. Her first round score of 85 was the seventh time Carner has either beaten or shot her age in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

As for how the 85-year-old planned on recuperating after the round, she kept her answer short and sweet – and followed through on that promise she made to a fan on the 18th hole:

“I’ll go back and cool down, take a shower and sit and have a nice cocktail.”