Amateur career

Jones was born in Santa Ana, California. In her amateur career, she was a three time New Mexico Junior Champion (1974-76) and won the New Mexico State Championship in 1979.

Jones attended Ohio State University where in 1981 she was an AIAW All-American.

Professional career

Jones qualified for the LPGA Tour by tying for seventh at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in July 1982.

Jones's best position on the LPGA money list was third in 1988, when she was tied as the winning-most player with three victories, including the LPGA World Championship; she won that championship with a one-shot victory over Liselotte Neumann, that year's U.S. Open champion. She completed her career with thirteen LPGA Tour titles. She also played for the United States in the Solheim Cup seven times. She placed second in a major tournament four times (1984 U.S. Open; 1991 LPGA Championship; 2000 du Maurier Classic; 2005 Kraft Nabisco Championship), but never won a major tournament.

Jones achieved back-to-back wins in 1996-97 at the LPGA Corning Classic, earning her the nickname "Queen of Corning"; she is also that tournament's all-time money leader "by a wide margin."

“	I'm proud of my career. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I wish I'd won a major, but I gave it my whole heart on every shot. And I've gotten more from the game than I could ever give back.	”
— Jones, upon her retirement from the LPGA tour

At the conclusion of the 2006 U.S. Women's Open, in which she finished tied for 57th, she retired from competitive golf; as a symbol of her departure she removed her golf shoes, visor, and glove and placed them on the side of the 18th green.

Since retiring from full-time play, Jones has competed on the Legends Tour, winning two of the five non-team tournaments in 2007. She has also worked as a commentator for the Golf Channel. She came out of retirement in 2008 to play the Corning Classic on a sponsor's exemption. She missed the cut by four strokes.

In 2009 she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open; she missed the cut at the tournament by three strokes.

In February 2010, Jones was named the captain of the U.S. team for the 2011 Solheim Cup.

Personal life

In 2004, Jones came out publicly as lesbian, an announcement timed with her acceptance of a sponsorship from Olivia, a travel agency that targets lesbians. Among people who knew her, she had been out since the late 1970s.

Professional wins (22)

LPGA Tour wins (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Sep 7, 1987	Rail Charity Golf Classic	−8 (69-74-67-69=279)	1 stroke	Nancy Lopez
2	Apr 24, 1988	USX Golf Classic	−13 (67-69-69-70=275)	Playoff	Kathy Postlewait
3	Aug 28, 1988	Nestle World Championship	−9 (70-69-66-74=279)	1 stroke	Liselotte Neumann
4	Sep 25, 1988	Santa Barbara Open	−4 (70-70-72=212)	3 strokes	Missie McGeorge
5	Jun 2, 1991	Rochester International	−12 (69-69-72-66=276)	2 strokes	Danielle Ammaccapane Brandie Burton
6	Aug 30, 1995	Pinewild Women's Championship	−5 (72-70-69=211)	Playoff	Dottie Mochrie
7	May 26, 1996	LPGA Corning Classic	−12 (67-69-71-69=276)	2 strokes	Val Skinner
8	Jun 25, 1997	LPGA Corning Classic	−11 (72-69-71-65=277)	Playoff	Tammie Green
9	Jun 1, 1998	Wegmans Rochester International	−9 (74-69-64-72=279)	2 strokes	Juli Inkster
10	Aug 22, 1999	Firstar LPGA Classic	−9 (72-67-68=207)	Playoff	Becky Iverson Jan Stephenson
11	Apr 29, 2001	Kathy Ireland Championship	−12 (66-67-68-67=268)	Playoff	Mi-Hyun Kim
12	Jul 22, 2001	Sybase Big Apple Classic	−12 (70-66-66-70=272)	1 stroke	Laura Diaz
13	May 11, 2003	Asahi Ryokuken International Championship	−15 (66-68-69-70=273)	3 strokes	Wendy Ward

LPGA Tour playoff record (5-4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1984	Rochester International	Kathy Whitworth	Lost to par on first extra hole
2	1988	USX Golf Classic	Kathy Postlewait	Won with birdie on first extra hole
3	1992	Crestar Classic	Juli Inkster Betsy King Nancy Lopez	Inkster won with eagle on first extra hole
4	1991	Safeco Classic	Pat Bradley	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
5	1995	Pinewild Women's Championship	Dottie Mochrie	Won with birdie on fifth extra hole
6	1997	LPGA Corning Classic	Tammie Green	Won with birdie on first extra hole
7	1998	Standard Register PING	Liselotte Neumann	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
8	1999	Firstar LPGA Classic	Becky Iverson Jan Stephenson	Won with par on fourth extra hole Stephenson eliminated with par on first hole
9	2001	Kathy Ireland Championship	Mi-Hyun Kim	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour (2)

• 1982 (2) United Friendly Worthing Open, Open De España Femenino

Other wins (1)

• 1997 Gillette Tour Challenge (with Juli Inkster)

Legends Tour wins (7)

• 2007 Wendy's Charity Challenge, Legends Tour Open Championship
• 2009 Kinoshita Pearl Classic
• 2010 Legends Tour Open Championship
• 2012 Walgreens Charity Classic
• 2013 Harris Golf Charity Classic
• 2014 Wendy's Charity Challenge

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Kraft Nabisco Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T19	T24	4	3	CUT
LPGA Championship	DNP	DNP	T44	T46	T19	T15	T3	T35	T61
U.S. Women's Open	T43	DNP	T11	2	T28	T29	7	T9	8
du Maurier Classic	DNP	DNP	4	T28	T29	7	T9	8	T46

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Kraft Nabisco Championship	T6	T23	T32	T62	DNP	T52	T10	CUT	T18	T13	T8
LPGA Championship	2	T11	T35	T17	CUT	T33	T69	CUT	CUT	T5	T28
U.S. Women's Open	T16	T62	T25	CUT	CUT	T5	T29	T33	T19	T25	T4
du Maurier Classic	T61	T6	T50	T25	T16	T16	T10	T7	T22	T9	2

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Kraft Nabisco Championship	T28	T3	T11	T8	2	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
LPGA Championship	T12	CUT	T3	DNP	T31	T49	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Women's Open	T39	T22	9	T20	T19	T57	DNP	DNP	CUT
Women's British Open	T12	CUT	DNP	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Yellow background for a top-10 finish.

Summary

• Starts - 92
• Wins - 0
• 2nd-place finishes - 4
• 3rd-place finishes - 4
• Top 3 finishes - 8
• Top 5 finishes - 13
• Top 10 finishes - 28
• Top 25 finishes - 52
• Missed cuts - 13
• Most consecutive cuts made - 23
• Longest streak of top-10s - 6

LPGA Tour career summary

Year	LPGA wins	Earnings ($)	Money list rank	Average
1982	0	2,869	127	74.5
1983		64,955	27	73.57
1984		81,793	19	73.27
1985		66,665	30	72.87
1986		71,399	33	72.72
1987	1	188,000	10	71.91
1988	3	323,392	3	71.57
1989	0	110,671	32	72.45
1990	0	353,832	6	71.48
1991	1	281,089	12	71.87
1992	0	204,096	25	71.64
1993	0	320,964	11	71.85
1994	0	123,683	42	72.22
1995	1	426,957	10	71.64
1996	1	275,592	18	71.76
1997	1	381,236	15	71.77
1998	1	395,241	18	71.51
1999	1	583,796	9	70.99
2000	0	643,054	9	71.21
2001	2	785,010	6	70.51
2002	0	722,412	10	70.76
2003	1	808,785	10	70.29
2004	0	473,616	25	71.22
2005	0	615,499	20	71.58

Team appearances

Professional

• Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 1990 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998 (winners), 2000, 2002 (winners), 2003, 2005 (winners)
• Handa Cup (representing the United States): 2006 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2008 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2010 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2012 (tie, Cup retained), 2013, 2014 (winners), 2015 (winners)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]