Despite an Off Day, Webb Wins Major

As Karrie Webb walked up the 18th fairway with victory in hand at the U.S. Women’s Open in Gurnee, Ill., Sunday, she had a wide smile on her face and a look of wonderment in her eyes. Her wraparound sunglasses were pushed up so she could take in everything.

“I just shake my head and can’t believe I’ve done so much so soon,” said Webb, 25, after winning her third major and getting the points needed to qualify for the Hall of Fame. She won by five strokes.

“The fact I’ve added two more notches on the belt and I’m not yet 26, it’s really hard to believe I’ve done this already.”

It was the same thing being said on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s fitting, really, that Webb won on a day when Tiger Woods was completing his career Grand Slam with a record-setting victory at the British Open.

Just as Woods has dominated the PGA Tour, Webb has been his equal on the LPGA circuit, winning 21 times in 4 1/2 years. She won despite an off day--she shot a one-over 73 to finish at six-under 282--and has now won three of the last four majors--just as Woods has.

“You kind of feel like there’s a sense of fate in it all,” said Cristie Kerr, who finished tied for second with Meg Mallon, five strokes back. “When people tee it up with Tiger, they’re playing for second. When Karrie plays well, we kind of all feel like that.”

Although Webb’s victory gave her the points she needs for the Hall of Fame, she must play 10 years on the LPGA Tour before she can be inducted, meaning she’ll have to wait until after the 2005 season.

She won $500,000, the largest prize in women’s golf. She also gets a $250,000 bonus for the Nabisco Grand Slam Challenge for winning two majors. She has earned $1.486 million this year and needs only $106,324 to break the LPGA single-season earnings record, which she set last year.

Webb won the LPGA Tour’s most prestigious tournament even though she had a double-bogey on the par-three seventh hole. She hit the small bank on the front left side of the green with her tee shot, and it bounced into the water. She hit again from the drop area, and landed about 15 feet from the hole. Her bogey putt went 1 1/2 feet by the hole, cutting her lead to one.

On the next hole, her tee shot clipped a tree and dropped back into the rough.However, she put her third shot six feet from the pin and saved par.

Mallon, tied with Webb after nine holes, three-putted for three consecutive bogeys on the back nine and finished tied with Kerr. Mi Hyun Kim made a run at Webb, only to double-bogey the 16th and finish tied with Rosie Jones at even-par 288.

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Gil Morgan steadied his nerves and shot a six-under-par 66 to cap off a tournament record 17-under 199 that gave him a four-stroke victory over Bob Murphy and Bruce Fleisher in the Senior PGA Instinet Open at Princeton, N.J.

Morgan admitted to some anxious moments during a round in which he led for the final 13 holes.

“I think that’s a good feeling. It means you’re in contention and you’ve got a chance to win,” he said.

Morgan broke Chi Chi Rodriguez’s 1987 mark of 14-under 202 and his margin of victory was the second largest in the 16-year history of the event, played for the first time at Jasna Polana--in its second year of existence.

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Brad Faxon, whose tee shots seemed to hit more branches than fairways, still managed to shoot his third 68 of the tournament and finish at 18-under 270 to beat Esteban Toledo by a stroke in the B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y. Toledo barely missed a birdie putt on the final hole, and Faxon became the first repeat winner in the B.C. Open’s 28-year history.

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Where the major tours are playing this weekend:

* PGA: Thursday/Sunday-John Deere Classic, TPC at Deere Run, Silvis, Ill.

* LPGA: Friday/Sunday--Giant Eagle Classic, Avalon Lakes, Warren, Ohio.

* SENIORS: Friday/Sunday--Lightpath Long Island Classic, Meadow Brook Club, Jericho, N.Y.