2001 Recap: Webb Weaves Her Magic Again,
Defends Title

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Pine Needles, N.C. -- Karrie Webb calmly sank her last putt for birdie, kissed her ball and then threw it in the stands.

Because that's what champions do.

For the second consecutive year, the 26-year-old Webb won the U.S. Women's Open, becoming the seventh repeat winner in 56 years. She shot a 1-under-par 70 Sunday, beating runner-up Se Ri Pak by eight strokes. It was the largest margin of victory at a Women's Open in 21 years when Amy Alcott defeated Hollis Stacy by nine strokes. The record is 14 strokes by Louise Suggs in 1949.

Webb finished her four rounds at 70-65-69-69 for a 7-under-par 273. Webb earned $520,000 for the victory; Pak took home $310,000.

"To set your sights on the biggest tournament, it's very rewarding," said Webb. "It's a dream come true."

Webb sealed the victory with birdies on the final two holes. First on No. 17, she made a difficult 40-footer against a slight side slope. The most difficult hole at Pine Needles, Webb stood and watched as the ball banged against the back of the hole before popping up and then sinking for good. All Webb could do was smile.

She admitted later that she was just trying to get it close, not thinking of making it. "I was fortunate that someone put a hole there."

Then on No. 18, in front of a massive gallery, Webb capped the day with a 20-foot putt for birdie. She reached into the hole and planted a kiss on the ball. "The finish was the icing on the cake, I guess," said Webb.

"To walk up [to] No. 18 two years in a row with a comfortable enough lead to really enjoy the atmosphere of the 18th green is really just a great feeling. And there's times when I retire from golf that I'll sit back and remember these times."

Se Ri Pak, who made an early run to close the gap to three strokes, wound up eight shots back at 1 over par for the championship. Dottie Pepper registered a 2 over par, followed by Cristie Kerr, Catriona Matthew and Sherri Turner -- all of whom were 10 shots back of Webb.

Over the course of the championship, Webb took 116 putts to Pak's 124, which coincidentally was the difference in strokes.

"The last few days I didn't make many putts," said Pak.

Coming into the final round, Pak was five strokes back. On six separate occasions players trailing in the final round had come back to win the Open. But it wasn't to be for Pak, who had pulled within three on the fourth hole. She bogeyed two of her next three holes and never got closer.

At one point, on No. 15 after missing an 8-foot putt, Pak held her fingers an inch apart and could be heard asking her caddie, "What happened?" when she stood on the fringe while waiting Webb to hole out.

Later during her press conference, Pak said that entering the final round she thought could pull out the win.

"I knew if I played as smart as I can, it would give me a chance," she said.

Webb was afforded the luxury of playing not to lose because of the huge lead. Shooting 5 under par on Friday set everything up for the final round.

Every shot seemed to be taken with caution as she took a little distance off her drives for the sake of being safe. In the first three rounds Webb averaged 236.84 yards off the tee. On Sunday, her distance dropped to 222.5 yards. What's more, Webb struggled to hit fairways, connecting just 64.3 percent -- a 21.4 percent decrease from Thursday and Friday's totals.

Overall, Webb carded four birdies and three bogeys. Sunday's 1-under-par 69 was her second-highest total in the championship -- just a notch below her first-round total even par --even though it seemed as though she was off a little bit.

"I was a little scratchy today," said Webb. "It's the U.S. Open. That's going to happen one of the four rounds."

Pine Needles is beginning to develop a reputation as the home of repeat Open winners. Annika Sorenstam also successfully defended her title here in 1996, which was Webb's first Open.

Next year's Women's Open will be held at Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, Kan. In the history of the Women's Open, no player has won three consecutive titles.

"I'm looking forward to defending next year," said Webb.

Taking five weeks off seemed to allow Webb to rediscover her game. "At the end of last year I had a few things that crept into my game that I felt I needed to work on."

For the record, Webb has now won four of the last seven majors. It also eases the pressure of not having won this year on the LPGA Tour, after having won seven tournaments last year.

"If it's the only tournament I win all year," said Webb, "it's the U.S. Open, and no one can take that away from me."