Taking The Fifth

On a balmy Thursday, Green jumped ahead with an opening-round 66 and followed with a 67 on an equally pleasant Friday. On Saturday conditions changed—from hour to hour. Before the foul-weather horn sounded at 2:50 p.m., the players fought swirling winds and struggled to make pars. After enjoying the storm-shelter hospitality chez Ritts, Tsehetter, who had been trailing Green by a stroke before play was interrupted, took advantage of the softened greens and the now calm air by making three birdies in a four-hole stretch. Before play was suspended for the day by another lightning storm as darkness fell, she had tied Green with two holes left to play in her third round.

Tsehetter lost her edge as soon as play resumed in the wind early on Sunday morning. She hit her first ball into the water at the 17th and made double bogey, setting the stage for a trip to deepest, darkest, Greg Norman hell. Tschetter would add two more doubles and three bogeys during a catastrophic day in which she dropped nine strokes over 20 holes. Remarkably amiable despite her collapse, Tschetter admitted that every decision she made turned out to be wrong. "It was one of those days when I was happy to be in the sand," she said.

Tschetter's time-consuming struggles helped put her threesome, which included Green and Kristal Parker-Gregory, on the rules officials' clock by the 8th hole of the final round. "I got out of my rhythm and felt like I was rushing shots several times," said Green, who feared being penalized for slow play. She was also feeling the pressure being applied by Sorenstam, who was playing five groups ahead. Sorenstam birdied the par-5 18th to finish 12 under and one off the lead while Green was still in the 15th fairway. Well aware that the tournament was hers to win or lose, Green chunked a six-iron short of the green but saved par by knocking in an eight-foot putt. "I knew what I had to do," Green said. "I stuck to my guns and went through my routine and kept the emotions out of it."

Emotions finally got the better of Green as she walked up the fairway of the easy 18th needing only a par to win. Before she could pull out her trusty red-shafted wedge and hit her approach to the green, she was intercepted by a CBS cameraman who asked her to say something to the folks back home in Ohio. "I got this lump in my throat," said Green, who croaked out a "Hi, Mom" and "Hi, Ts" (for her five siblings, whose names also begin with the letter T) before pitching to within a few feet of the hole. Still fighting back tears, she drained the putt for birdie and a two-stroke win.

The crowd roared, the cameras rolled and the autograph hounds pulled out their pens. It was nice to be back in the winner's circle.