Her two-stroke overnight lead at the Senior LPGA Championship in Kansas had suddenly vanished and a rivalry that was at its peak 20 years earlier was suddenly revitalised.

Webb responded with a birdie at three to assume a one-shot advantage before the pair both traded birdies at the par-3 fourth.

A bogey at six saw Webb fall back level with Sorenstam again at 10-under before the Hall of Famers pushed out to 11-under with another birdie at seven.

Webb again edged one stroke ahead with a birdie at eight but Sorenstam’s birdie at nine saw them head to the back nine level at 12-under.

From there it was all Webb.

The seven-time major champion picked up birdies at 10 and 12 to pull away, the clincher coming with an eagle at the par-5 14th.

That gave the 47-year-old a three-stroke lead with four holes to play, Sorenstam’s dropped shots at 15 and 17 giving Webb a four-stroke buffer playing the final hole.

Respective pars would secure a four-stroke win – Webb’s first in more than eight years – and solidify that a comeback that was never a comeback is now so much more.

Webb has confirmed her intention to play the Women’s Australian Open at Victoria Golf Club in December and given that was the site of her fifth national championship triumph must now be considered a genuine threat.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had to make putts down the stretch to win a golf tournament,” laughed Webb. “The mouth was getting dry and the little putts were seeming a little bit longer.”

Yet the qualities that made her a seven-time major champion once again came to the fore.

Head-to-head battles between Webb and Sorenstam were rare at the height of her rivalry, swarms of people flooding into Salinas Country Club to see the Hall of Famers go toe-to-toe one more time.

“It was kind of a game on moment,” said Webb when Sorenstam chipped in at one.

“Once that went in, I was like, All right here we go. I just knew I had to play my best golf.

“I’m not used to playing golf with adrenaline. It was hard to know how far I was hitting it, so it was a bit of a guessing game, but I think I did pretty good overall with it.”

As Webb returned to the winner’s circle it proved to be a challenging week for the Aussies at The Amundi Evian Championship.

Defending champion Minjee Lee never really threatened, Sarah Kemp dropped back into the pack over the course of the weekend and no Australian player finished inside the top 30 as Brooke Henderson completed a wire-to-wire victory.

A final round of five-under 66 and a share of 31st was a positive end to Stephanie Kyriacou’s week, West Australian Hannah Green (68) gong sub-70 in each of her final three rounds to also finish tied for 31st at seven-under.

Top five through three rounds, Stuart Appleby’s closing four-over 74 saw him fall back to 19th at the Senior Open at Gleneagles, one clear of Peter O’Malley who was tied for 20th.

A week out from the defence of his Rocket Mortgage Classic title, Cam Davis (69) climbed eight spots on Sunday of the 3M Open to earn a share of 16th, his third consecutive top-20 finish on the PGA TOUR.

Results

Legends of LPGA Tour
Senior LPGA Championship
Salinas Country Club, Salinas, Kansas
Winner Karrie Webb      69-66-67—202  $US60,000

LPGA Tour
The Amundi Evian Championship
Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France
Winner Brooke M. Henderson   64-64-68-71—267           $US1m
T3          Lydia Ko              66-69-68-66—269           $283,420
T31        Stephanie Kyriacou         70-71-70-66—277           $43,812
T31        Hannah Green   72-68-69-68—277           $43,812
T43        Minjee Lee         70-69-73-69—281           $26,365
T54        Sarah Kemp       69-67-74-73—283           $18,937
MC        Su Oh    73-74—147

Senior Open
Gleneagles, Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland
Winner Darren Clarke    65-67-69-69—270           €424,190.65
T3          Steven Alker      68-68-66-70—272           €103,815.84
19          Stuart Appleby  70-67-67-74—278           €31,749.50
T20        Peter O’Malley  71-69-70-69—279           €28,293.78
T41        Richard Green   67-72-72-73—284           €14,866.83
T47        John Senden      67-71-72-75—285           €11,987.06
66          Michael Campbell           71-70-72-77—290           €6,155.52
MC        John Wade         73-75—148        €2,149.03
MC        Peter Fowler      73-76—149        €1,889.85
MC        Glenn Joyner     73-76—149        €1,889.85
MC        Robert Allenby  76-76—152        €1,630.67
MC        Andrew Welsford           77-75—152        €1,630.67

PGA TOUR
3M Open
TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota
Winner Tony Finau         67-68-65-67—267           $US1.35m
T16        Cam Davis          70-68-70-69—277           $103,313
T26        Cameron Percy  72-69-66-72—279           $55,875
T49        Aaron Baddeley 72-68-70-73—283           $18,885
T64        Jason Day           70-72-72-72—286           $15,975
T70        Greg Chalmers  70-71-75-72—288           $15,300
MC        Daniel Gale        74-74—148
MC        Brett Drewitt     76-75—151

DP World Tour
Cazoo Classic
Hillside Golf Club, Southport, England
Winner Richie Ramsay   69-69-67-69—274           €297,500
T52        Jarryd Felton      72-69-74-72—287           €6,343.75
T68        Daniel Hillier      70-74-73-76—293           €3,675
MC        Blake Windred  72-73—145
MC        Jake McLeod      73-75—148
MC        Scott Hend         72-79—151
MC        Josh Geary         76-75—151
MC        Dimitrios Papadatos       78-76—154
MC        Rod Pampling    79-76—155

Korn Ferry Tour
Price Cutter Charity Championship
Highland Springs Country Club, Springfield, Missouri
Winner David Kocher     63-66-65-66—260           $US135,000
MC        Curtis Luck         73-67—140
MC        Nick Voke           71-69—140
MC        Ryan Ruffels      72-70—142
MC        Harrison Endycott           67-77—144
MC        Rhein Gibson     76-70—146

PGA TOUR Canada
Osprey Valley Open
TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley (Heathlands Cse), Caledon, Ontario
Winner Danny Walker   69-62-69-68—268
Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff
T26        Will Barnett       74-68-70-66—278
WD        Cameron John   75

LET Access Series
Santander Golf Tour Malaga
Golf Torrequebrada, Spain
Winner Sara Kouskova   74-70-67—211  €6,400
T19        Kristalle Blum    78-73-71—222  €638.67