Late Eagle by Webb Is Shot in a Million

LAS VEGAS —  So, what should you call that 12-foot eagle putt Karrie Webb made on the 15th hole Sunday in the ITT LPGA Tour Championship?

A bank shot, naturally, because once that golf ball hit the bottom of the hole, it was pretty clear that the only thing that could keep Webb from completing her four-shot victory was if she somehow slipped on a deposit slip and wrenched her back.

For Webb, it was a great day to become a new millionaire. Her closing round of 65 was worth not only $150,000 for winning, but it also put her over $1 million in prize money this year--the first time in LPGA Tour history anyone has reached that mark.

“It feels great because no one can ever say she was the first to win a million dollars except me,” Webb said. “It’s always going to be in the record books. No one can change that.”

In the final accounting, the 21-year-old Australian, an LPGA Tour rookie, cleared the millionaire hurdle by only $2,000, finishing at $1,002,000.

Nancy Lopez, Emilee Klein and Kelly Robbins came closest, but they still finished four shots behind Webb, who made it look easy.

Nobody came within three shots of Webb over the last nine holes, mainly because of the way she overpowered the user-friendly 6,324-yard Desert Inn layout.

Her lead was two shots when she got to the 471-yard par-five 10th, which Webb promptly birdied. Webb also birdied the 377-yard par-four 13th, then put the tournament away with her eagle on another short hole, the 453-yard par-five 15th.

Klein, who was playing in the final twosome with Webb, knows the effects of an eagle when she sees one.

“That was kind of a closing factor,” Klein said.

Webb’s second shot was a four-iron that reached 185 yards on the carry and stopped 12 feet from the hole. From there, she rolled in the putt, smiled with satisfaction at her four-shot lead and coasted in.

A rare bobble on her way to her 16-under-par total of 272 didn’t even hurt her Sunday on No. 12. Webb was distracted when someone slammed the door of a portable toilet when she was in her backswing and she nearly knocked the ball into the water.

Webb wound up with a birdie when she chipped to a foot and made it.

“The strong points of my game today were everything,” said Webb, a four-time winner this year. “Every time I looked up at my shot, it was going straight at the pin.

“When you know you need to play well to achieve everything you want to do, it’s definitely a dream round.”

It also was a award-winning day for Annika Sorenstam, who won her second consecutive Vare Trophy for the year’s lowest scoring average.

Sorenstam finished with a 70.47 scoring average, the second-lowest in LPGA history. The only one better was Beth Daniel’s 70.38 average in 1989. Sorenstam also won the Vare Trophy last year with a 71.00 stroke average.

Even though she closed with a 67, Laura Davies couldn’t get close enough to put any pressure on Webb and finished tied for fifth.