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Wire-to-wire win

Posted September 02, 2007 11:00 pm

Dave Kane

She threw a birdie trifecta at Sherri Steinhauer over the final three holes Sunday, putting the heat on Steinhauer on an already-simmering afternoon at Panther Creek Country Club.

But Christina Kim, the personification of youthful energy at age 23, just knew that Steinhauer - Kim's senior by a generation - would do something to render Kim's efforts all for naught.

"From the moment I saw her in the bunker (on No. 18), I knew she was going to get up-and-down (to save par)," Kim said. "Sherri has one of the best short games out here. I knew she was going to get up-and-down.

"And she's made so few bogeys all week long, I didn't think she would want to add one on the 72nd hole."

But not even Kim, nor Steinhauer, expected a par-saver and tournament winner quite like the one Steinhauer pulled off Sunday. It closed out Panther Creek's first LPGA State Farm Classic in thrilling style.

Kim, who was the Classic runner-up three years ago, birdied Nos. 16, 17 and 18 in a furious bid to go that 2004 finish one better. But Steinhauer, playing one group behind Kim, came through with birdies of her own on Nos. 16 and 17 to preserve a one-shot edge.

After a perfect tee shot in the middle of the 18th fairway, Steinhauer hit her approach shot into the right-front bunker. With the pin tucked in the right-back corner of the green, she blasted her bunker shot past the hole and off the putting surface behind the green. She was about 20 feet above the hole.

Opting for the "Texas Wedge" approach by using her pendulum putter from off the green, Steinhauer rolled in the decisive par putt to avoid a playoff and capture the eighth victory of her 22-year tour career.

Her final-round, 5-under-par 67 gave her a winning total of 17-under 271 - one shot ahead of Kim (66 Sunday) and three ahead of Rachel Hetherington (69) and defending champion Annika Sorenstam (67).

"Coming into 18, I asked my caddie (Joe Connolly) after I hit the bunker shot, 'Is Christina at 15?'" said Steinhauer, referring to Kim's under-par total. "And he said, 'Yes.' So I'm thinking, 'All right, I hit two putts, I can get down in two and still win.'

"So I get behind the back of the green and I look (at the scoreboard) and I'm like, 'Whoa, she's at 16.' They hadn't posted it before then, so Joe didn't know. So then, I - you know - I was just thinking two-putt and go in the playoff and see what will happen.

"It went in. It was amazing."

Steinhauer, who held the lead at the end of each of the first three tournament rounds, still had to battle her way to the championship before collecting the $195,000 winner's check and the Bruce Callis Trophy. She became the fourth wire-to-wire Classic champion but the first to do so in a four-day event since Pat Bradley in 1978.

And in her 20th Classic appearance, Steinhauer became the first champion at Panther Creek. Her previous best Classic finish was a tie for fourth in 1997 at The Rail, while her last tour victory came in last year's Women's British Open.

"I tell you, there's nothing like winning," said Steinhauer, a Madison, Wis., native who played college golf at the University of Texas.

"It's just amazing to be back on top again. I can't describe it. I'm just - boy, thank goodness for my putter or I wouldn't be here."

Steinhauer, who said a switch to the pendulum putter six years ago provided a career boost, totaled just 24 putts Sunday - the same total as Kim. They both put on an intense chipping-and-putting duel over the final three holes.

Starting the day one shot up on Hetherington and two ahead of Kim and Michele Redman, Steinhauer opened as much as a three-shot lead thanks to birdies on Nos. 1, 3 and 7. Her lone bogey came at No. 8, where her tee shot was on the edge of the right rough and didn't allow her a clear second shot on the dogleg-right hole.

After saving par on No. 9 after hitting into a greenside bunker, Steinhauer made a 15-foot putt to birdie No. 11. While she parred the next four holes, Kim began making her move.

Playing in the same group as Sorenstam, Kim was tied with the Swedish star at 14 under par after they both birdied the par-5 16th hole. They were both within one shot of Steinhauer.

Kim then chipped in for birdie from about 35 feet away at the par-3 17th to - very briefly, as it turned out - tie for the lead.

"My caddie, Donna Southam - this was our first week together, actually - just said, 'Envision the ball going in,'" Kim said. "I just said, 'I've made three chip-ins my entire career . . . right!' I just tried to see the ball rolling into the hole and took a great swing at it and it just landed on the green and rolled right in."

Less than a minute after the gallery at No. 17 roared over Kim's chip-in,

Steinhauer answered with a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 16 to stay one ahead.

"I know Christina is a great player and she's making birdies ahead of me," Steinhauer said. "But I didn't want to be thinking about so many things out there."

Then came another tit-for-tat birdie exchange. Kim rolled in a 28-foot birdie putt from off the back of the putting surface at No. 18, again briefly tying for the lead. But Steinhauer sank a 25-foot, downhill birdie putt of her own at No. 17 to regain the edge and set the stage for the final-hole theatrics.

"I made a putt from there earlier in the week for birdie when the pin was in the front - I think it was on Thursday," Steinhauer said of No. 17. "So I had those good memories to go from, just made a real good stroke and read it correctly and just what a great sense of relief from when that went in.

"I could see it was headed for the hole and 'Just please, hole your line,' and it did."

It was the second runner-up finish for Kim in as many weeks.

"You know, I'm playing out of my mind right now and Sherri is playing awesome," Kim said. "I just knew it was going to happen, so I was just very pleased with how I played. Granted, part of me was hoping maybe something (a playoff) would happen, but not too much."

Sorenstam, meanwhile, posted her best finish - tying for third - since her return from the back and neck injuries that sidelined her for several weeks earlier this year. She started out with two straight birdies Sunday, but had to settle for 10 straight pars before getting an eagle at No. 13 and birdie at No. 16.

"I pleased with 14 under," Sorenstam said of her total. "I think it's my best tournament of the year, just really solid golf. I have a lot of positive things to take away from this week.

"Things are good. I'm happy."

Dave Kane can be reached at 788-1544 or dave.kane@sj-r.com

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