Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 26, 1993 TAG: 9307260132
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CARMEL, IND. LENGTH: Medium
In fact, it has been nine years since she won a tournament. But say this for Lauri Merten: She knows how to pick her spots.
On Sunday, with a closing charge befitting a champion, she won the U.S. Women's Open, the most prestigious title in women's golf.
"It was tough," said Merten, 33, of Greenville, Del. "I went through some very, very lean years."
With birdies on two of the last three holes, she shot a 4-under-par 68 for an 8-under total of 280 - one stroke ahead of Helen Alfredsson of Sweden and Donna Andrews of Lynchburg, Va.
Merten chipped from about 70 feet for a birdie with a 9-iron on the 404-yard 16th hole. Then she just missed an eagle on the 400-yard closing hole when her 166-yard approach shot stopped about three feet from the cup.
Merten, who started the day 4-under, had three consecutive birdies earlier. The streak began with a 60-foot, 9-iron shot on the eighth hole and she finished the round with six birdies and two bogeys.
"I was just trying to be patient on those three holes," she said of the final three holes. "I took some shots that I'll probably never be able to take again."
Merten, who had not won since 1984, missed the cut in two of her last three tournaments and finished in a tie for 75th in the other. She earned $144,000 for her third tour victory and nearly doubled her previous winnings of $175,706 this year.
Alfredsson, who began the round leading by two strokes, tied for second at 281 with a 74. She pushed a 15-foot putt on the final hole to the right of the cup that would have forced an 18-hole playoff today.
"I thought the putt was going right to left and it just went straight," said Alfredsson, who made only one birdie in the final round after setting a 54-hole tournament record with a 9-under 207.
"I couldn't get comfortable today. I couldn't make any putts. . . . I don't know if I've ever felt this disappointed in my life. I don't know how much this will affect me."
Andrews, one of four women to lead during the final round, closed with a 71.
"I think I was aggressive where I needed to be," said Andrews. "I played my game."
Pat Bradley, who had moved to 8-under in quest of duplicating her 1981 Open triumph, faded with a bogey on No. 15 and a double-bogey on No. 16 to finish tied for fourth at 73 with a 283 total.
Hiromi Kobayashi of Japan, who was second when the weather-delayed final round at the 6,311-yard Crooked Stick Golf Club began, bogeyed the final hole to tie with Bradley.
Defending champion Patty Sheehan was at 284, followed by five others at 285. The group included second-round leader Michelle McGann and Nancy Lopez, whose bid for her first Open title faded with a triple-bogey on the eighth hole where she put one shot into the water.
"After I took my triple, I wished it [the hole] had been washed away," said Lopez, who had double-bogied the same hole Saturday. "I was disappointed because I felt this is where I could win it."
by CNB