Juli Inkster waited 20 years to hold the U.S. Women's Open trophy.

Time tends to heal the wounds, and Inkster has celebrated several victories in the interim, but her U.S. Women's Open runner-up finish to Patty Sheehan in 1992 is one that hurt.

Inkster could almost picture her arms around the trophy when she split the fairway on the 71st hole at Oakmont Country Club, leading Sheehan by two strokes. Two pars, she figured, and the tournament was hers.

And that's exactly what Inkster did. She did not, however, expect consecutive birdies from Sheehan, who then defeated Inkster the next day in an 18-hole playoff.

"I came out on the short end of the stick, but I played my heart out," Inkster recalled. "I would not have changed the way I played. I just feel like you have to go into the Open thinking you've got to be playing well. The golf course has got to be set up for you."

Inkster finally claimed that U.S. Open trophy, shooting 71 on Sunday at Old Waverly Golf Club to set a tournament scoring record at 16-under 272 and win by five shots over Sherri Turner.

And the Open at Oakmont seemed like a long, distant memory.

"This is the best," Inkster said. "This puts a topper on my career ... I just told myself I've got to have the heart to win this thing. You don't get very many opportunities to do it, and I just thought it was my tournament. To lose again, I don't know if I could have gone through another one."

Inkster, 38, played in her 20th U.S. Women's Open, with her only previous top-five finish the playoff defeat to Sheehan. That was a particularly tough year for Inkster, who also lost a playoff to Dottie Pepper at the Dinah Shore. Although she did win a tournament that year, Inkster didn't win again until 1997.

But three of her 20 career LPGA victories have come this season, and she is second on the LPGA money list with $675,061.

"I'm more at ease with being a working mother," said Inkster, a three-time U.S. Women's Amateur champion before anyone ever heard of Tiger Woods.

"I'm just more stable with my home life now," said Inkster, who has two daughters ages 9 and 5. "My kids understand what their mom does. They are a lot easier to travel with.

"(There was a time) I wasn't practicing as much. I wasn't dedicated enough. I was kind of straddling the fence. Do I quit? Do I play? I just decided this is what I really love to do. I love to play golf. And if I'm going to do this, I've got to start working on my game."

The results say she made a wise choice.

"I got a game plan and it's paid off," she said. "The last three years, I've probably played the most consistent golf I ever have played."

The victory put Inkster among some elite company. She became just the seventh player to win both the U.S. Women's Amateur and Open, joining five Hall of Famers -- Patty Berg, Betty Jameson, Babe Didrickson Zaharias and Louise Suggs -- who had achieved the honor.

And the win put her closer to joining them in the Hall. With 20 victories, including four major championships, Inkster is just three points away from qualifying for the Hall under its new criteria.

"I've kind of got a plan in my mind what I'm doing to do as far as playing," Inkster said. "If I get in, that's great. That's awesome. If I don't get in ... I've had so much fun and I've met so many great people. There's not too many people who can say they really enjoy what they do. And I really enjoy what I do. I'll just walk away and say 'thanks, it's been great.' "

Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online.