Lunke Birdies 90th Hole to Win U.S. Women's Open

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. -- Hilary Lunke drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole of a playoff Monday to win the U.S. Women's Open by a single stroke over Angela Stanford and by three over Kelly Robbins.
 
"I definitely had my bad round yesterday," said Lunke, who struggled home with a four-over 75 in the final round. "I just tried to play my game today, to play stroke-play and I'm thrilled."
 
Lunke won the title with a one-under 70 on Monday, followed by Stanford's 71 and a two-over 73 by Robbins, whose chances fell with a double-bogey six at the 13th hole.
 
For the second consecutive day, it all came down to the play at the par-five 18th at the Witch Hollow Course at Pumpkin Ridge. On Sunday, Annika Sorenstam bogeyed the hole to miss the playoff by a stroke, but Stanford drained a long birdie putt to join the 18-hole playoff on Monday.
 
Lunke took a one-shot lead over Stanford to the 90th hole of the championship and both hit the fairway off the tee, but Lunke laid up in the fairway while Stanford's second finished in the left rough.
 
Lunke pitched 12 feet short of the hole while Stanford, in a horrible lie, ran her approach short of the green on the fringe. Stanford once again sank a magical putt at the closing hole as her 25-footer fell into the bottom of the cup, tying her with Lunke atop the leaderboard at even-par.
 
"When it disappeared, I thought, 'I can't believe that happened again," said Stanford, who earned her first LPGA Tour victory last Sunday at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. "I didn't get my hopes up too high."
 
Lunke, indeed, stepped up and ran home the curling birdie putt of her own to win her first major championship.
 
"I knew Angela was going to make it," said Lunke, who pocketed $560,000 for the win. "I was just trying to focus on my line. I pretended like it was match-play and your opponent is always going to make it."
 
Not only was this Lunke's first major title, it was her first victory on the LPGA Tour. She became the 26th player to make win No. 1 a major and the first since Se Ri Pak took home the LPGA Championship in 1998.
 
Lunke became the first player to win the trophy by qualifying for the event. Even that looked to be in jeopardy when she opened with an 80 in the opening round of sectional qualifying, but now, at 24, she is the youngest American to win a major title in the last 16 years.
 
"I hope it's the start of something big," said Lunke. "I'm not going into any event differently now than I would have before, but I'll have it in the back of my mind that I really can do it."