PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Susie Maxwell Berning, the first woman to compete on scholarship at Oklahoma City University, will be highlighted 5 p.m. CST (6 p.m. EST) Wednesday as part of the 2021 World Golf Hall of Fame induction class.

The ceremony will be broadcast over The Golf Channel live from the PGA Tour's headquarters. She will be inducted along with Tiger Woods, Marion Hollins and Tim Finchem.

Berning shared about the start of her golf career in a gathering of the 2019 NAIA women's golf championships tournament field prior to the tournament May 13 at Vast atop the Devon Tower. OCU will once again host the NAIA Championships on May 24-27 at Lincoln Park Golf Course in Oklahoma City.

The Stars have hosted the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic each year since 2013-14 at Lincoln Park Golf Course. OCU concludes the regular season with the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic on April 11-12 at Lincoln Park. Berning earned her business degree and was part of the secretarial club at OCU.

"It's good to see so many young ladies into golf now," Berning said in May 2019. "We need you to pursue the game and fall in love with it as much as I did. At the time I started a college career, I was fortunate that OCU had a dream to start a ladies golf team, but we couldn't find enough who were into golf, so I played on the men's team. I really feel like playing with the young men really enhanced my career and allowed me to play as better golf on the professional tour."

Berning became a pioneer in women's sport, competing on Oklahoma City's men's golf team in the early 1960s for coach Abe Lemons nearly 40 years before OCU began a women's golf program. A 1982 inductee into the OCU Athletics Hall of Fame, Berning won three Oklahoma state high school championships and three Oklahoma City Women's Amateurs from 1959-61.

She began her professional career in 1964, garnering LPGA rookie of the year. She won four major championships on the LPGA – the 1965 Western Open and the U.S. Women's Open in 1968, 1972 and 1973. She won 11 tournaments on the LPGA all while balancing family life as a mother. She established two records with a low score of 65 and two holes in one during a tournament. She is one of only six women – including Babe Zaharias, Betsy Rawls, Mickey Wright, Hollis Stacy and Annika Sorenstam – to win the U.S. Women's Open three or more times. She was included on the LPGA Tour's top 50 players and teachers of all time in 2000.

"She was a trailblazer from when she first picked up a club throughout her amateur career, and then made a big splash once she reached the LPGA Tour," USGA Chief Executive Officer Mike Whan said. "I think about the shortlist of individuals – male or female – who have won three U.S. Open titles, let alone four major championships, and understand just how incredible that is. She also shortened her career when she made a decision to walk away to focus on family – something every female professional can empathize with and respect."

Berning began playing golf at the age of 15. In 1954, her horse ran onto Lincoln Park Golf Course and damaged the greens. To make up for it, she gave the golf pro's children horseback riding lessons. She and the pro, U.C. Ferguson, became friends, and soon the young athlete was learning golf.

"What an incredible honor for Susie," OCU coach Marty McCauley said. "From Lincoln Park Golf Course and Oklahoma City University to the World Golf Hall of Fame, it's outstanding. I could not be more proud to have one of our own join such a distinguished group."

Oklahoma City started its women's golf program in 2000-01. The Stars have captured eight national championships in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2017.