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Playoff reign King defeats Kuehne, Goetze-Ackerman in sudden-death
Posted: Sunday May 28, 2000 08:05 PM
CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- In her 23 years on the LPGA Tour, Betsy King has seen some strange things. On Sunday, she saw another, and it had a happy ending for her. Leading the Corning Classic by two strokes with one hole to play, defending champion Kelli Kuehne self-destructed with a double-bogey on No. 18, setting up a sudden-death playoff with King and Vicki Goetze-Ackerman. All three parred the first extra hole, the tricky 377-yard, par-4 18th, before King won it with a birdie on No. 8 for her 33rd career triumph and second this year. King, also the 1991 Corning winner, joined Rosie Jones as the only two-time champion. "I didn't think it was my day until she missed the green with her third shot," said King, who won $120,000 to add to her career-record total of over $6 million. "That let everybody else into the ballgame." Goetze-Ackerman was as stunned as anyone. She had already begun doing interviews with the media, happily documenting her best finish since she started playing full-time on the tour six years ago. Then Kuehne's third shot on No. 18 landed in the deep rough to the right of the green, and when her chip left her 12 feet from the hole, she ended up two-putting for a double-bogey 6. Her collapse was nearly complete. "I didn't hit the fairway once on 18," said Kuehne, who beat Jones by one stroke last year for her one and only LPGA victory. "I struggled with my shot on 18 all week. I'm terribly disappointed, but I believe in destiny. It was Betsy's time to win." It didn't appear to be only moments earlier. Leading Kuehne by a stroke, King hit her drive on the 304-yard, par-4 16th under a pine tree, and when her wedge shot flew over the green she had to settle for bogey. Kuehne, on the green in two, calmly sank a 20-foot putt for birdie and had the lead back. "I hate to look like I'm choking," said King, who is 8-6 in playoffs in her Hall of Fame career. "At one point on 18, I said, 'Make par so you finish second.'" On the second playoff hole, Kuehne's second shot nearly hit the pin but rolled about 30 feet past the hole, while Goetze-Ackerman put her second shot within 12 feet -- birdie range. King, whose drive landed in the right rough, had to clear a tree with her second shot and did, with her ball landing on the green and glancing off Goetze-Ackerman's ball and stopping about 10 feet from the hole. Kuehne missed her birdie try as the ball broke right 2 feet and Goetze-Ackerman rimmed her birdie attempt out to the moans and groans of the crowd. King then calmly holed hers, watching it break about 8 inches as it rolled straight into the cup. "I would have loved to have won the playoff, but I'm very pleased. I thought my day was over," said Goetze-Ackerman, who had a final-round 67 to finish the 72 holes at 12-under 276. "I hung in there. I thought I made the putt on No. 8, but I didn't." Instead, King did and had her second triumph of the year. "This has been a nice turnaround year for me," said the 44-year-old King, who had only three victories in the previous six years. "I'm very happy. It was like a free shot to win." It was the fourth playoff in the tournament's 22 years and first involving three players. Pat Hurst, who had a closing 69, could have made it a four-way playoff but bogeyed No. 18 when her second shot sailed over the green into the gallery. She finished alone at 11-under 277. A.J. Eathorne was fifth at 278 after a closing 68 and Leslie Spalding was another stroke back in sixth. Liz Earley of Canada, who got as low as 11-under with a birdie on No. 5, a 449-yard par-5, faltered with three bogeys on the final 10 holes and finished in a three-way tie for seventh with Emilee Klein and Sherri Turner. Kuehne started the day with a one-shot lead over King, and the two battled back and forth throughout the day. A two-shot swing on the tough 412-yard, par-4 13th put King ahead by a stroke. Kuehne's drive had hit the right rough and she two-putted for bogey from 35 feet while King drained a 20-foot putt to go in front.
Goetze-Ackerman, who began the day four shots off the lead, zoomed into contention with five birdies on the front nine, three in a row. Her 67 tied Joan Pitcock for the best round of the day.
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