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Crowd favorite Local favorite Delasin wins Samsung Championship
Updated: Sunday October 07, 2001 8:10 PM VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) -- Dorothy Delasin learned to play golf on the hardscrabble municipal courses of her San Francisco Bay area neighborhood. Several years later and a few miles across the Bay, she showed the world's best golfers what she learned the hard way. Playing steadily and confidently while Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak faltered, Delasin won the Samsung World Championship on Sunday by four strokes. With birdies on the first and last holes -- and 15 pars between -- Delasin shot a 3-under 69 in the final round for a 277 total. Pak and Webb both carded even-par 72s, finishing at 281. "You have to earn your respect. I just wanted to show the world that I belong here, and I'm not going anywhere," Delasin said. "If I can do it, people who play anywhere can do it, too. All it takes is a lot of hard work." Delasin grew up south of San Francisco, and was the crowd favorite at Hiddenbrooke Golf Club, where galleries shouted her name and carried supportive banners during her final two rounds. The 21-year-old second-year pro wept and thanked her fans as she accepted the crystal trophy for her third career victory. She finished her last 31 holes without a bogey, and she didn't three-putt once during the tournament. For beating an elite field of 20 of the world's best golfers, she took home the $157,000 winner's share of the $750,000 purse -- her biggest payday yet. As befitting such a methodical victory, Delasin merely raised her arms in the air as her final birdie putt fell. She hugged her caddy, Clint Begay, and then embraced her father, Arsenio, who she credits for sparking her love of golf. "Seeing everybody out here cheering me on, the feeling was amazing," Delasin said. "I've been working so hard, and having my family out here to support me is great." Though Delasin had never played the Hiddenbroooke course before the weekend, she seemed to know its idiosyncrasies better than Webb or Pak, who both got into big trouble Sunday. The long, winding course was designed by Arnold Palmer, and rough winds periodically affected play throughout. Webb and Pak started the day one stroke behind Delasin. Webb, looking for her first victory since completing her career grand slam in June, never got on track, making a double bogey on the seventh and just one birdie in the final 11 holes. Still, Webb was pleased -- even though she likely won't have a shot at her third straight Player of the Year award. "It's the first time in a couple of months that I've had a legitimate shot at winning," Webb said. "I hit the ball a lot better this week, [but] I still haven't been able to keep the big numbers out of my game." Pak, who played with a strained neck, twice closed to within one stroke of Delasin, but never overtook her. In the final holes, Pak fell apart, missing a short putt on three consecutive holes to drop well behind. "I was thinking after the front nine that I had a pretty good chance, but the back nine was hard," Pak said. "I missed a lot of putts. It gave me a lot of stress." Pak won the event in 1999 and won the AFLAC Champions in Alabama last week. Delasin's two previous tour victories came at the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic in Ohio, where she twice came from behind to beat Pak on Sunday. At the World Championship, Delasin drew a smiley face on her ball -- something she's done since she was 12 -- and spent the day in constant conference with Begay, her caddie and the younger brother of PGA pro Notah Begay III. She hit several difficult par-saving putts, but she never teetered toward trouble as Webb and Pak did in the final round. "It was cool. I heard people cheering out my name again," Delasin said. "It was the best feeling. I wish I could record it and play it again." She planned to celebrate with her family before flying back to Albuquerque, where she'll spend the next month training as the LPGA Tour goes to Korea. Though she's in negotiations with Nike, whose visor she wore, Delasin still doesn't have any endorsement deals or sponsorships. "Maybe now they'll open their eyes," Delasin said with a grin. Juli Inkster, another Bay Area golfer who won three of the previous four World Championships, started the day four shots behind Delasin but never made a charge. She shot a 75 to finish sixth, 10 strokes back.
Television coverage of the event was delayed by ABC, which
continued its coverage of the U.S.-British bombing campaign in
Afghanistan.
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