Webb claims fourth victory of 2006
BY iseekgolf.com | LPGA Tour | 2006 Longs Drugs Challenge | Wrap | 25 Sep 2006
Heading into the final round of the Longs Drugs Challenge with a five-stroke lead, it appeared Karrie Webb had her fourth win of the season already wrapped up. However, when Annika Sorenstam’s name is on the leaderboard – even when she is six strokes back – nothing is guaranteed. After a final-round charge, Sorenstam (70-70-69-65=274) waited near the scoring tent while Webb (67-70-66-70=273), just a group behind, sank a two-foot par putt on the 72nd hole for a one-stroke victory and the $165,000 winner’s check.
Webb’s five-stroke lead after 54 holes matched the same lead she had going into the final round of the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, where she ended up winning by seven strokes. But this time, Sorenstam’s low final-round 65 (-7) gave Webb a run for her money. The tournament was the 15th event this season that has been decided by one stroke or a playoff.
Webb lit up the 6,212-yard course early with birdies on holes two and three, which Sorenstam matched on three and four. But as Sorenstam went on to birdie the 155-yard par-3 seventh, Webb followed with a double bogey and the chase began.
“The first six holes, I was cruising along,” said Webb, who has not won four tournaments in a season since she won seven in 2000. “I probably should have been 4‑under through the first six today. I let everybody back in when I doubled seven. So from there, it was game on.”
“I just really appreciate that the double bogey was my only blemish out there, that I really got a hold of myself and didn’t make any mistakes and just made a couple of birdies and that was good enough,” said Webb, who remains in second place to Lorena Ochoa on the ADT Official Money List with $1,873,753.
Sorenstam would bogey number eight, but sank a 38-foot eagle putt on nine to make the turn 4-under-par 33 and pull within two strokes of Webb. That was the largest margin Webb would enjoy, as her birdies on 11 and 13 were the last on the back nine and she remained at 15-under-par for the rest of the tournament. Sorenstam also birdied 11 when she fired a 7-wood from a fairway bunker to within nine feet and then posted another birdie on the par-5 15th. Sorenstam drew within one stroke of Webb with a 15-foot birdie putt on 17. She had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie on 18, but her chip for birdie from behind the green rolled just past the hole.
“Today was a great day. I loved it. It’s just a lot of fun,” said Sorenstam, who leads the Tour with 14 top-10 finishes in 17 starts and is one win shy of becoming the first player in nearly 33 years to win 70 LPGA events. “You really have to do something when the opportunity is right there. I could have gone out and shot 1‑under or 2‑under, it wouldn’t have meant as much. There are birdie opportunities, but if you don’t hit it in the right place, this course can get you. I’m sure I had her heart pumping a little bit, which is my goal, and to walk away with a good finish, I’m happy.”
Webb’s impressive sub-par performance all four days keeps her in the lead on Tour for rounds under par with a 75.8 percent record (47 of 62 rounds). She also closed the gap in the Rolex Player of the Year race, as she moved ahead of Sorenstam into second place with 214 points, just nine points behind Ochoa, who has 223. Sorenstam is now third with 206 points.
Source – LPGA
