Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 1, 1991 TAG: 9104010089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
"I don't remember ever playing this well in a tournament," Alcott said Sunday after she won the Dinah Shore by eight shots, setting a record in the process.
"I played what I would call steady, brilliant golf this week."
Alcott, who had endured some personal and career hardships, Scores in Scoreboard. B2 hadn't won in almost two years before her wire-to-wire, runaway victory in what many of the LPGA players call the tour's most prestigious tournament.
She celebrated the victory the same way she had in 1988, plunging into the lake surrounding the 18th green at Mission Hills Country Club. Only this time, as promised, tournament namesake Dinah Shore joined Alcott and her caddy, Bill Kurre, in a brief dip that drew rousing cheers from the large gallery.
Alcott said earlier in the week that she would go in the water if she won, and Shore had promised in writing - in a foreword to Alcott's book on golf - that she would go in the lake herself if Alcott ever won the tournament again.
Alcott said she had changed her mind about going in, but she didn't have much choice.
"I wasn't going to jump in this time. I thought at this point in my life, I just wanted to accept the trophy with some dignity," she said.
She laughed and added, "But it's just not my style."
Alcott said Shore persuaded her to go through with it.
"She met me on the green and said, `I've got my bathrobe and I'm ready to go.' She coaxed me into it," Alcott said.
Refusing to turn conservative despite holding a seven-stroke lead going into the final round, Alcott stuck with her aggressive game plan and shot a closing 4-under-par 68.
By sinking a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, she also rewrote her own tournament record with a 15-under-par total of 273, one shot better than her winning score in 1988.
Alcott never let anyone any closer than two shots of her the entire four rounds and won the event for the third time.
Dottie Mochrie finished second with a closing 69 that gave her a 281.
by CNB