ESPN Golf Online: 1999 Women's U.S. Open: Inkster completes Women's Open domination

ALSO SEE

Final-round scores

Final-round scorecards

Harig: The sweet taste of victory

Notebook: Park ends amateur career in style
MULTIMEDIA
video
Julie Inkster taps in on 18 for the victory.
1066k avi
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN

Inkster gets this bunker shot next to the pin on 7 to save par.
841k avi
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN

Sunday, Jun. 6
Inkster completes Women's Open domination

Associated Press
WEST POINT, Miss. -- Crushed by a playoff loss seven years ago, torn between her career and two young daughters, Juli Inkster made a triumphant return to the top Sunday by winning the most prized possession in women's golf.

Juli Inkster is now just three points shy of Hall of Fame eligibility.
Inkster fought off a spirited challenge from Kelli Kuehne to win the U.S. Women's Open with a 1-under 71 that gave her the lowest 72-hole score in the 54-year history of the championship.
Inkster, 38, became the oldest champion since 40-year-old Fay Crocker in 1955. She also ended four years of foreign supremacy in the Women's Open.
"I can't believe it," Inkster said through sobs. "This is the best. I'm bringing the trophy back to America."
She finished at 16-under 272, breaking by two strokes the record set by Annika Sorenstam at Pine Needles in 1995.
Sherri Turner, who had an eagle on the 408-yard 11th hole, finished five strokes back. Kuehne made a double bogey from the water on the closing hole for a 74 that left her in third place at 279.
The margin of victory was no indication of the fight Inkster had on her hands from the start. Kuehne, a 22-year-old who plays her best in USGA events, put the pressure on from the start by giving herself eight birdie chances on the front nine.
But she made just one, and Inkster answered every challenge.
She saved par on No. 1, put in a 6-foot birdie putt on top of Kuehne's 15-footer on 2 and answered a sloppy bogey with a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 6.
But the defining moment may have been the par-3 7th, when Inkster caught a lie in the bunker that had looked like she would be lucky to make bogey.

RECORD WEEK

Records set or tied in the 54th U.S. Women's Open at Old Waverly Golf Club. Previous records in parentheses:
Lowest score: Juli Inkster, 272 (272, Annika Sorenstam, 1996)
Lowest score in relation to par: Juli Inkster, 16-under (10-under, Alison Nicholas, 1997)
Best start by a champion: Juli Inkster, 65 (66, Patty Sheehan, 1994)
Best score by an amateur: Grace Park, 283 (290, Jenny Chuasiriporn, 1998)
Most sub-par rounds: 136 (89, Crooked Stick, 1993)
Most sub-par rounds in one day: 62 in the second round (38, second round at Crooked Stick, 1993)
Lowest round in relation to par: Kelli Kuehne, Lorie Kane and Becky Iverson, 8-under 64 (8-under 63, Helen Alfredsson,1994)
Lowest second-round score: Lorie Kane and Becky Iverson, 64 (65, Pamela Wright, 1994)
Lowest score after 54 holes: Juli Inkster, 201 (203, Alison Nicholas, 1997)
Lowest score in relation to par after 54 holes: Juli Inkster, 15-under (10-under, Alison Nicholas, 1997)

The ball was plugged so badly that it caused a perfect crater around it. Inkster's shoulders dropped when she walked up to the bunker and saw what she had. Shifting her feet into the sand, she blasted out and nearly holed the shot.
"Fried egg in the bunker ... you've got to know it's going to be her day," Kuehne said.
Kuehne lost any chance by missing the 10th green with a wedge and missing a 6-foot putt for par. When Inkster made a 4-foot birdie putt on the 13th, she had a spring in her step over the final five holes to victory.
The Women's Open was the fourth major championship for Inkster but her first in 10 years.
Her last best chance was in the 1992 Open, when she led by two strokes with two holes to play until Patty Sheehan birdied 17 and 18, then defeated Inkster in a playoff.
"This time, I made my own breaks," Inkster said.
She became just the eighth player to win three legs of the LPGA's modern grand slam, and goes to the LPGA Championship in three weeks with a chance to join Pat Bradley as the only women to win all four.
Not long ago, Inkster thought it might be time to quit golf. She went without a victory for four years and failed to finish in the top 20 on the money list during a time when her second daughter was born in 1994.
But she decided to rededicate herself to practice, and began taking her daughters -- ages 9 and 5 -- to as many tournaments as she could.
"It's a lot easier to think about birdies when you don't have to think about diapers," said Inkster, the first mother to win the Women's Open since 1973.
Now, Inkster may finally get credit for one of the most overlooked careers in golf.
Long before Se Ri Pak came along, Inkster won two majors as a rookie in 1984. Long before Tiger Woods, she became the first player to win the U.S. Amateur three years in a row.
Inkster became the first player since JoAnne Carner in 1971 to win a U.S. Women's Amateur and a U.S. Women's Open.
With her victory Sunday, it may be time for Inkster to start thinking about her place in the Hall of Fame. She now needs only three points -- either three victories, or one victory and another major.