| 1981 U.S. Women's Open | |
| Dates: | July 23–26, 1981 |
| Location: | LaGrange, Illinois |
| Course: | La Grange Country Club |
| Org: | USGA |
| Tour: | LPGA Tour |
| Par: | 72 |
| Yardage: | [1] [2] |
| Field: | 150 players, 70 after cut |
| Cut: | 153 (+9) |
| Purse: | $150,000 |
| Winners Share: | $22,000 |
| Champion: |  Pat Bradley |
| Score: | 279 (−9) |
| Previous: | 1980 |
| Next: | 1982 |
The 1981 U.S. Women's Open was the 36th U.S. Women's Open, held July 23–26 at La Grange Country Club in LaGrange, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago.
Three strokes back after 54 holes, Pat Bradley shot a final round 66 (−6) to win her only U.S. Women's Open, one stroke ahead of runner-up It was the second of Bradley's six major titles.
Kathy Whitworth had her best chance to win the U.S. Women's Open, the only major championship to elude her. She co-led after 18 and 36 holes,[3] and led by a stroke over Bonnie Lauer after the third round.[4] Both faded on Sunday as Whitworth carded a 74 (+2) to finish five strokes back in solo third. With that, she became the first to exceed one million dollars in career earnings on the LPGA Tour.[5]
The course hosted the championship seven years earlier in 1974.
Sunday, July 26, 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Bradley | 71-74-68-66=279 | −9 | 22,000 | |||
| 2 | Beth Daniel | 69-74-69-68=280 | −8 | 12,500 | |||
| 3 | Kathy Whitworth | 69-70-71-74=284 | −4 | 9,500 | |||
| align=center rowspan=2 | T4 | Bonnie Lauer | 72-67-72-76=287 | align=center rowspan=2 | −1 | align=center rowspan=2 | 7,000 |
| Cindy Hill | 76-70-69-72=287 | ||||||
| align=center rowspan=4 | T6 | Donna Caponi | 71-74-72-73=290 | align=center rowspan=4 | +2 | align=center rowspan=4 | 4,562 |
| JoAnne Carner | 73-71-72-74=290 | ||||||
| Marlene Floyd | 71-72-73-74=290 | ||||||
| Patty Sheehan | 74-74-72-70=290 | ||||||
| align=center rowspan=6 | T10 | Amelia Rorer | 73-77-69-73=292 | align=center rowspan=6 | +4 | align=center rowspan=6 | 2,967 |
| Debbie Massey | 71-72-72-77=292 | ||||||
| Hollis Stacy | 73-75-71-73=292 | ||||||
 Sally Little | 74-72-76-70=292 | ||||||
| Sandra Haynie | 75-73-73-71=292 | ||||||
| Shelley Hamlin | 70-75-75-72=292 |