Widow Pat Pemberton, the women’s athletic coach at Pacific Technical College, excels at sports, but becomes unnerved whenever her pompous fiancé, college administrator Collier Weld, is watching. Collier wants Pat to be the golf partner of potential donor Mr. Beminger, in a foursome with himself and Mrs. Beminger, and insists she play her best so that Beminger will win. During the game, Pat becomes so tense under Collier’s reproachful gaze that she ruins a number of shots, causing her and Beminger to lose. While Collier tries to calm Beminger, Pat becomes so annoyed by Mrs. Beminger’s condescending golf tips that she angrily grabs a club and makes a rapid succession of perfect drives. Golf pro Charles Barry is so impressed by Pat’s skill that he asks her to represent the club at the national women’s amateur championship. She is hesitant at first, but after an argument with Collier, whom she feels has no confidence in her abilities, agrees. At the end of the first day of the tournament, Pat is only four strokes behind the lead, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, and is feeling confident. Pat’s performance is admiringly observed by sports agent Mike Conovan, who is determined to manage her. That evening, Mike offers to become her agent, suggesting that it would be better financially if she lost this tournament and gradually built up her reputation. Although Pat turns down the offer, saying it is dishonest, she impresses Mike. The next day, Pat is on the verge of winning but again becomes so unnerved when she sees Collier watching that she loses the tournament on the last putt. Collier and Pat later argue over his bullying, prompting Pat to reconsider Mike’s offer. When she travels to Mike’s office in New York, he is overjoyed when she says that golf is actually her weakest sport and promises to promote her into “queen of the world.” After demonstrating her skills at tennis and target shooting, Pat signs a contract with Mike, who immediately takes charge of her training and insists that she give up liquor, cigarettes, late hours and Collier. In the ensuing months, Pat becomes a national celebrity after winning several tennis tournaments, partnered with such stars as Frank Parker and Don Budge. By the time she arrives in San Francisco, Pat exudes confidence, but when Collier and some of her students come to watch her at the Cow Palace, she sees them laughing and her confidence vanishes. After imagining that the net is huge and her racket tiny, she pictures Collier as the referee and passes out, losing the tournament to Gussie Moran. Later, Collier tries to convince Pat to come home, but Mike angrily accuses him of being the reason why Pat lost and implies that some of Pat’s “owners” would not like his interference. Pat then surprises Mike by crying that no one owns her, then sending Collier away. Pat soon joins Mike at his training camp for dim-witted boxer Davie Hucko. As Pat and Mike grow closer, she admits knowing that it is Collier who is causing her to lose, but assumes that it is because she is in love with him. Mike begins to realize his attraction to Pat after looking at a photograph of her and Collier and imagining himself in the picture. The next day, as Mike is giving Pat a leg massage, Collier calls, asking to see her. Feeling Pat’s leg muscles go limp, Mike grabs the phone and orders Collier to stay away. He then tells Pat that, while they are equal partners, “five-oh, five-oh,” she could never be “five-oh, five-oh” with Collier. The night before the next national women’s golf tournament, Mike’s “anonymous investors” arrive at the hotel, hoping to convince Pat, who is the odds-on favorite, to throw the match so that they win large sums betting against her. Mike refuses, but after the men leave, a worried Pat offers to lose, saying she wants to share Mike’s troubles "five-oh, five-oh." Mike again refuses, then, at dinner, two of the investors come to their table to force Mike outside. Despite Mike’s insistence that she not interfere, Pat goes outside and sees the men physically threatening Mike. She sneaks up behind one of men, pulls at his trouser legs and makes him fall, then disables the other man. After receiving applause from other diners, they are all taken to the police station, where Pat and investor Hank Tasling reenact what has happened, trying to convince the police captain that it was just a joke. He finally lets them all go and tells Pat that his money is on her. Outside the station, Mike laments creating a “Mrs. Frankenstein” and says he wants the kind of "five-oh, five-oh" in which a “he is a he” and a “she is a she.” Back at the hotel, Collier arrives and tries to grab one of Pat’s arms, while Mike takes the other, prompting Pat to run away. Late that night, while Pat is asleep, Mike goes into her room, closes the window and gently covers her with a blanket. He tries to sneak out, but starts to sneeze, thus waking Pat. She is startled, but touched when he explains that he checks on her every night, just to make sure she does not kick off her blankets. As Mike leaves, he is observed by Collier, who assumes the worst and angrily confronts Pat. She then screams for Mike, who rushes back and unsuccessfully tries to overpower Collier. When Pat implies that something has been going on between herself and Mike, Collier hastily leaves. Although surprised by Pat’s words, Mike shakes her hand, saying together they can lick the world, with everything "five-oh, five-oh." During the tournament, Pat is in the lead when, on a critical putt, she looks up and sees Collier’s disapproving face. Although momentarily shaken, she then looks at Mike’s encouraging face and easily makes the shot.