Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 28, 1990 TAG: 9005280089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FRISCO, TEXAS LENGTH: Medium
Stephenson, shut out for 16 holes over two days and facing the prospect of "feeling like a lost child," got a second chance on the par-3 17th hole and nursed home an 18- to 24-inch putt worth $200,000.
"I've never been so nervous in my life," the former U.S. Women's Open champion said. "My knees actually were shaking."
But Stephenson, on the comeback from a career-threatening finger injury, dropped it in the cup, lifted her arms and eyes to the sky and became the winner of the two-day, four-person, made-for-television event.
"It's huge," she said. "There was luck involved. But it's a great boost to my confidence.
"I know I can play again, and that's the important thing."
Stephenson's career was in jeopardy after the ring finger on her left hand was shattered in a mugging incident in Miami earlier this year.
She had played only two previous events since the injury and she said her greatest fear was that she would be shut out by Nancy Lopez, JoAnne Carner and Betsy King in the Skins Game.
And, for two days and 16 holes, it appeared those fears would be realized.
She made a 22-foot birdie putt on the third hole Saturday and appeared a winner. Carner, though, dropped a 20-footer on top of it to halve the hole.
On the 15th, she had a 15- to 18-footer to win with a birdie. She missed.
"I thought that was my last chance," Stephenson said.
She got another chance on the 17th, and when she missed that, yet another chance on the same hole moments later.
Under the format that calls for the prize money on each hole to be carried forward until there is a clear winner, the purse had grown to $200,000 when the foursome went to the tee on the 140-yard, par-3 17th at Stonebriar Country Club.
When Carner, Lopez and King all hit windblown 6-iron shots into bunkers, the door was opened for Stephenson.
Using a 5-iron - a longer club to compensate for the finger injury - she lofted a shot that nestled in 12 feet below the flag.
King, from the back bunker, and Lopez, from the right, both came out long. Carner got about 10 feet from the cup, just inside Stephenson.
Lopez and King missed their lengthy attempts at par, King putting from 50 feet and Lopez chipping from shorter range.
Stephenson then left her uphill birdie putt 18-24 inches short.
"I was sick," she said. "It was definitely the worst putt I ever hit. I just felt I didn't want to make a mistake and run it two or three feet by. That was stupid."
Carner, who had made so many clutch putts to halve holes, missed her 10-footer for par.
Stephenson then faced that little putt for $200,000.
"It was stupid," she said, "but I'm standing there thinking, `This is almost $10,000 an inch.' That just made the putt look that much longer."
But she made it.
Lopez and King won $95,000 and $45,000, respectively, all on the first day. They were shut out Sunday.
Carner won $75,000 with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole and went into the gallery slapping "high fives" with the spectators. She also collected $35,000 with a 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole.
She was runner-up to Stephenson with $110,000.
Keywords:
GOLF
by CNB