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When Annika Sorenstam chipped in for eagle at the first hole of the final round to draw level, Karrie Webb’s response was simple: “Game on.”
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
