At 65 years, 11 months, and 19 days old, Juli Inkster just broke a record that had stood for 22 years. JoAnne Carner previously held the mark at 64, set at the 2004 Chick-fil-A Charity Championship. But Inkster, playing in her first event of the season, did something even more remarkable, and it drew the attention of broadcaster Amanda Balionis as well.

Inkster made the cut at the $3.3 million Dow Championship 2026, becoming the oldest player in LPGA Tour history to make the cut. Teaming up with 27-year-old Angel Yin, the duo carded rounds of 69 and 68 to sit at -3, one shot above the cutline. Inkster sounded thankful after adding another feather to her cap. The LPGA Tour’s IG post on the feat read “NOT DONE YET,” and Balionis responded with, “👏👏👏.”

“I had a great partner. I’m happy I played. Sometimes you’ve got to put yourself out there, and I felt like I did that this week. I’ve enjoyed playing with Angel. We left a lot of them out there today,” said Inkster after making history. It’s even more significant because the seven-time major winner came close to breaking the record last year but fell short.

🤔 golf trivia

This Should Be an Easy One, Right?

01/10

On Which Hole Jordan Spieth’s Ball Got Stuck Under a Trashcan?

14th 15th16th 17th

Oops, bogey!

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She teed off at the 2025 Standard Portland Classic as a tune-up to U.S. Senior Women’s Open. She came very close to making the cut, but two consecutive bogeys stopped her from shattering Carner’s record. Speaking to the media at that time, Juli Inkster expressed her respect for fellow World Golf Hall of Famer Carner.

“I frigging love JoAnne Carner. Just kind of means that I have a passion for the game. I love the game. Most of them [young LPGA pros] think I am JoAnne Carner,” Inkster joked at that time.

Well, in retrospect, they were not too wrong. Inkster has now joined a rare list of 60-something players who made the cut in regular tour events. Interestingly enough, the record of the oldest cut-maker in the PGA Tour also came in a team event.

Jay Haas, paired with son and PGA Tour pro Bill, made the cut at the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. At 68 years, 4 months and 20 days old, the veteran golfer broke Sam Snead’s 40-year-old record from the 1979 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Inkster is now one of those few pros who can boast of booking a weekend spot at 65 or older. She is tied for 20th heading to the final round. Quite naturally, not only Amanda Balionis but also several LPGA players showed support by liking the post, including Nelly Korda, Mel Reid, Rose Zhang, and Jessica Korda.

Nelly Korda is also competing at the Dow Championship this week. Inkster knows her game well. As Team USA captain at the 2019 Solheim Cup, Inkster paired Nelly with her sister Jessica, where they put up a score of 3-0-1 in pairings. But do you know Inkster wasn’t sure about it at first?

As she said back then, “They actually asked me to play together.” “I wasn’t too keen on it. But the more I thought about it, it would be stupid not to play them.”

Meanwhile, Inkster’s and Rose Zhang’s bond adds another layer.

In 2023, Stanford swept the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational, with Rose Zhang winning the individual title by two strokes for her ninth collegiate win. Zhang is part of the generation of Stanford golfers who have followed the path Inkster first blazed decades ago.

Well, looking back at her history books, this milestone shows why it hits so hard.

Decades of wins behind one historic cut

At San Jose State, Juli Inkster won 17 college tournaments, a school record. From 1980 to 1982, she took three straight U.S. Women’s Amateur titles, the first player to do that since 1934. That run alone marked her as someone built for the long haul.

She turned pro in 1983 and won Rookie of the Year the next season. Her seven majors completed a Career Grand Slam in North America, with two Kraft Nabisco wins and back-to-back titles at the Women’s PGA and U.S. Women’s Open. By 2000, she was in both the LPGA and the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Inkster also left her mark on the Solheim Cup. She played on nine U.S. teams and scored 18.5 career points. Few players show up that consistently, year after year, on the biggest stage for American golf.

She later captained the team three times, leading the U.S. to wins in 2015 and 2017. So when a 65-year-old Inkster makes the cut this week, it fits the pattern. She’s been finding ways to deliver for over four decades.