Back-to-back
Inkster outduels Sorenstam, defends Samsung World Championship
Posted: Sunday October 25, 1998 08:02 PM
| |
Inkster's 66 matched the record she and Sorenstam had set Saturday at the Tierra Del Sol course AP |
THE VILLAGES, Florida (AP) -- The phone call said it all for Juli Inkster.
"I got the ball in the hole instead of out of the hole," she told her 4-year-old daughter, Cori, shortly after outdueling Annika Sorenstam Sunday and defending her title at the Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf.
If only it were that easy to explain a victory over the world's best player.
Trailing Sorenstam by one stroke heading into the final round, Inkster shot a 6-under 66 and pulled away over the final three holes for a three-shot victory, her first on tour this season.
Paired with Sorenstam for the final round, Inkster finished at 13-under 275 for a victory worth $137,000.
"I was just trying to be aggressive because I know the way Annika plays," said Inkster, whose 66 matched the record she and Sorenstam had set Saturday at the Tierra Del Sol course.
"I knew par wasn't going to win this. I was already spotting her a shot, anyway. She should be giving me a stroke. But I was just very steady and it turned out great."
One of the tour's most popular players, Inkster was greeted with bear hugs from Dottie Pepper and Brandie Burton as she walked off the 18th green after finishing a bogey-free round.
Sorenstam shot 2-under 70 for her fourth second-place finish of the year to go with four victories.
Pepper fired a par 72 to finish at 282, in a third-place tie with Burton. Burton shot a 69 and, like Pepper, never made a move at the leaders.
That left a taut duel between Inkster -- who won this tournament last year in South Korea -- and Sorenstam, who leads the tour in money, scoring average and in the points race for Player of the Year.
"The key was that I didn't blow any shots, I didn't give her any shots, I didn't give her any breaks," Inkster said. "She's the best player in the world. It was key to play my game and not give in to her."
Inkster tied Sorenstam at minus-8 with a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 No. 5.
Inkster birdied Nos. 6-8 to get to minus-11, one stroke ahead of Sorenstam, who equaled Inkster's birdies at 6 and 8, but parred No. 7.
They matched each other par for par over the next seven holes before Sorenstam missed a 14-foot putt for birdie and Inkster sank an 8-foot birdie attempt for a two-stroke lead at the par-5 16th.
"It was a critical hole -- but I expected Annika to make that putt," Inkster said.
At the par-3 17th, Inkster teed off to four feet for an easy birdie. Sorenstam drove into a green-side bunker, flew the green on her sand shot and finished with a bogey and a four-shot deficit.
"I saw her shot on 17 and I knew it was perfect," Sorenstam said. "I thought I had to hole my tee shot. I haven't made a hole-in-one in a long time and when you want it, it never happens."
Sorenstam won $78,500. She became the first player to surpass the $1 million mark in winnings this season and the first player to pass the mark twice.
She also widened her lead in the points race for Player of the Year.
But while a first-place finish would have given her 30 points and a decisive edge over Se Ri Pak, second place was worth only 12 points.
Pak, who finished tied for next-to-last at 4-over in the 16-player field, didn't earn any points in the race and trails 225.89 to 185.99 with two official events remaining. One of those, the LPGA Tour Championship, is worth double points.
"It's not over," Sorenstam said. "If I win today, I could have relaxed a little. But I've got to play well and keep grinding."
Divots: The tournament had been played in South Korea the past three years before moving to central Florida. The LPGA will decide next month on the 1999 site. ... Pak flew to her native South Korea after the tournament for her first visit there since joining the LPGA tour this year and winning the LPGA Championship and U.S. Open. She will play in a non-tour event in her honor this week before heading to Japan for the Japan Classic. ... Sorenstam is not playing in the Japan Classic, the next-to-last official LPGA event, giving Pak a chance to cut into her 40-point deficit for Player of the Year. With the second-place finish, Sorenstam increased her winnings to $1,077,498, more than $200,000 ahead of second-place Pak. ... Sorenstam lowered her scoring average to 69.88. She's trying to become the first player to finish under 70 for the season.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
