Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 16, 1990 TAG: 9007160119
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DULUTH, GA. LENGTH: Medium
"I didn't even think I was in the event until the last 10 holes," King said after overcoming an 11-shot deficit in the final 33 holes to beat broken-hearted Patty Sheehan by one shot and win her second consecutive Open title.
"If Patty had been able to have a night to sleep on her third round and then practice, she may have done better," King said.
Sheehan, the leading player on the LPGA Tour this season, didn't get that chance.
It took three days to play the first two rounds on the rain-drenched, 6,298-yard Riverside Course at the Atlanta Athletic Club. The field was left with a marathon test of 36 holes Sunday.
Sheehan's game began to unravel during the morning round, when she double-bogeyed No. 18 for a 75 that left her at 209, four shots ahead of Mary Murphy going to the final 18.
King, who became the fifth player to win successive Opens, had a 71 in the morning round and finished with a 70 for a 72-hole score of 4-under-par 284.
"I just didn't feel very well all day," Sheehan said during a TV interview, breaking into tears after finishing with a round of 76. "I figured if I played like this on the first two days, I'd have missed the cut, so I can look at it in a positive light."
"It's not the end of the world," she said later. "I tried very hard. It just wasn't my week. I know one day I'm going to win a U.S. Open. It just wasn't this year."
It was the third time Sheehan has been a runner-up in the tournament.
"I don't think you'll see Patty falter that badly very many times," said King, 34.
It was the 22nd career victory for King and her second major title this season. She won the Dinah Shore in April. The victory was worth $85,000, lifting her season's earnings to $361,431.
In 1991, King will get a chance to become the first player to win three Opens in a row. Others who have won consecutive titles are Hollis Stacy (1977-78), Susie Maxwell Berning (1972-73), Donna Caponi (1969-70) and Mickey Wright (1958-59).
"I'm too old to win a record number of Opens," King said. "I feel fortunate to have won two."
King played a steady final round.
She made birdies from 10 and 15 feet on the third and fourth holes and sank a 30-foot putt for another on 11. King's only bogey came on 12 when she drove into the rough.
Sheehan had a great start, making birdies on the second and third holes in the morning round to go 12 under for the tournament. At that point, she had an eight-shot lead on the field and an 11-shot lead over King.
She bogeyed the seventh, then was 8 over par in a 14-hole stretch that carried through the front side of her afternoon round - the bogey on No. 9 knocking her out of the lead for the first time since the tournament began. It left her one shot behind King, who was 4 under at that point.
Sheehan later bogeyed the 12th, but made birdies on 14 and 15 to regain a share of the lead. She lost her chance at a playoff today when she bogeyed 17.
While most of the gallery was focused on the King-Sheehan battle, Dottie Mochrie moved into contention.
Mochrie, shooting 72 and 66, was two shots off the lead with three holes to play, but ran out of birdies. She finished in a tie for third at 286 with Danielle Ammaccapane.
Murphy, four shots off the lead after the morning round, finished fifth with rounds of 69 and 74.
by CNB