Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 28, 1994 TAG: 9403280079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Dinah Shore would have approved.
Lynchburg's Andrews sank a six-foot putt to win the Dinah Shore tournament Sunday, then, after signing her scorecard, leaped into the murky waters alongside the 18th green at Mission Hills Country Club.
Shore, who died of cancer in February, had helped Amy Alcott celebrate her victory in the 1991 tournament by gleefully accompanying Alcott into the lake.
In a dramatic finish to the 1994 Dinah Shore, Andrews beat Laura Davies by one stroke after the two battled for the lead all day.
Andrews bogeyed No. 17 to fall a shot behind Davies. Then Davies, trying to play conservatively and protect her one-shot lead at No. 18, spoiled her chances when she left her approach shot 60 feet from the pin. Her long putt left her a 10-footer for par, and she missed.
Andrews, whose third shot stopped six feet from the pin, made the birdie putt to win her second tournament in three weeks and her first major title on the LPGA Tour.
"It really feels great," said Andrews, 26, who has steadily improved since she joined the tour in 1990 and appears to be one of the emerging stars of women's golf.
"I was dry when I signed my card and did TV, but then the crowd was yelling for me to go in [the lake]. . . . Anything to please the crowd."
Andrews' caddy and husband, John Reeves, escaped the dunking because he had wandered off.
"But I gave him a big hug afterward to make sure he got wet, too," Andrews said.
Andrews shot a closing 70 that put her at 12-under-par for the tournament. Davies also had a 70.
The final day proved to be a duel between two players who already had victories this month. Andrews won in Tucson, Ariz., in mid-March, and Davies won in Phoenix the weekend before the Dinah Shore.
Davies, the longest driver on the women's tour, chose to use a 4-iron off the tee on the final hole, but hit into trees along the right side of the 526-yard, par-5 hole. She hit a 2-iron out, some 150 yards from the green. Davies hit an 8-iron poorly on her third shot, leaving her in danger of three-putting, which she did.
Andrews, meanwhile, hit her 3-wood off the tee into the middle of the fairway, hit the 3-wood again to within 140 yards of the green, then hit a 6-iron into birdie range and made the putt to win $105,000.
Davies bogeyed and received $65,165 for finishing second.
"On the scale of one to 10 in disappointed, I'm a 10 right now," said Davies, whose strategy was to go for par on 18, which meant Andrews would have had to birdie to tie.
"She played the last hole a little more aggressively than I did. . . . I think the way I played 18 was the only way for me to play it," Davies said. "I just have to say, `Donna, well done.' "
Andrews began the day at 10-under, one shot in front of Davies.
Davies birdied the second hole to draw even, and there never was more than a one-shot difference between them the rest of the round.
Andrews went in front with a birdie on No. 5, then slipped back into a tie with a bogey on No. 7. Both players birdied the ninth hole, then Davies went up by a shot with a birdie on No. 11.
Andrews caught her at 12-under with a birdie on the 12th hole, then they matched pars until Andrews bogeyed No. 17.
Tammie Green shot a closing 68 to finish third, two shots behind Davies.
Jan Stephenson, who hasn't won an LPGA event since 1987, played well and finished fourth with a 71 to go 8-under. Stephenson, 42, has been fighting her way back from a 1990 injury that jeopardized her career - a mugger ripped a ring off one of her fingers during a robbery in Miami, breaking the finger in two places.
Michelle McGann, who began the final round two strokes off the lead, shot a 73 to finish fifth.
Nancy Lopez, who shared the opening-round lead with a 68, shot a 71 Sunday to wind up 4-under.
Helen Alfredsson of Sweden, the 1993 Dinah Shore champion, spoiled her chances of repeating with a 76 the first day. She finished at 5-over, including a 74 for the final round.
Andrews, who played college golf at North Carolina, earned $299,839 in 1992, then $334,285 last year, including winning the Ping Cellular One Championship for her first LPGA victory.
Keywords:
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by CNB