Karrie Webb never loomed more giant-like over her sport, and yet she was firmly in someone else’s shadow Sunday.
On the biggest day of her career, when she won the U.S. Women’s Open and qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame in one fell swoop, everything remained in the context of Tiger Woods. There were the endless comparisons of their records (similar), and of their impact and following (not similar).
Webb, though, didn’t seem to mind the intense spotlight on Woods’ victory at the British Open. If anything, Webb is caught up in Tiger mania just like everybody else.
“What he has done is unbelievable,” Webb said.
Yet Webb is ever the competitor. When it was pointed out that it took Woods six U.S. Opens to win his first title compared to five for Webb, she made the one-down move with her index finger and laughed.
Despite a struggle on the front nine, she came back to reign supreme, winning the Open by five shots over Meg Mallon and Cristie Kerr at the Merit Club in Gurnee. She shot a 73 to finish at 6-under-par 282, good enough to earn a record $500,000 first prize.
They could just as easily be saying Woods has “Webb-like numbers.” Hers are just as impressive.
Only 25 and in her fifth year on the LPGA Tour, Webb now has 21 career titles. She has won three of the last four majors.
Sunday’s victory also ensured golf immortality. She now has the requisite 27 points needed to qualify for the Hall of Fame. She did it so fast she will have to wait five more years to achieve the 10-year membership requirement.
So what if Woods completed the career Grand Slam on Sunday? Webb figures the golf world is big enough to do her justice too.
“You just can’t do anything about it,” Webb said. “My ultimate goal was to win the U.S. Open this week. I can’t help the fact that Tiger then goes out and wins the British Open. Most people watched two great tournaments.”
Indeed, there are worse things than to be mentioned in the same breath as Woods.
“It’s kind of cool to be compared to Tiger Woods, especially after what he’s been doing,” Mallon said. “They talk about Tiger like he’s a god and nobody can catch him. And I feel that Karrie has played the same way.”
Mallon, though, did catch Webb, if only for a moment. Webb held a four-shot lead coming into the final round, but she was uncharacteristically shaky.
Webb made a bogey on No. 4 and then hit disaster when her tee shot went into the water on the par-3 seventh, leading to a double bogey. Suddenly the lead over Mallon was down to one.
The stumble called for Webb to give herself a pep talk.
“It was just the belief that my game is good enough that I could turn it around,” Webb said. “Even though things did feel like they were slipping away a little bit, I was still leading.”
A terrific up-and-down par on the par-5 eighth settled her a bit. Then after hitting two good shots for a par on 9, Webb started to feel good again, even after Mallon downed a 30-foot birdie to move into a tie.
Typically, Webb wasted no time closing the door on Mallon. When Mallon made a three-putt bogey on the par-4 10th, Webb turned around and dropped a 10-footer for birdie. Just like that the lead was two again.
“That’s Karrie right there,” Mallon said. “When she smells blood, she’s like an animal. She knew I was going to three-putt that hole and she made a birdie. It was a two-shot swing and she took off.”
Mallon’s poor putting helped; she had three straight bogeys. Meanwhile, Webb went back to being Webb, playing bogey-free golf, finishing with a birdie on 18.
The cushion allowed Webb to relish the final few holes. Playing in front of a pro-American crowd pulling for Mallon, Webb got tears in her eyes she saw an Australian flag on the 15th hole.
Then on 18 Webb took in all the cheers, walking down the fairway as the soon-to-be-crowned Open champion. It was the fulfillment of another dream. That seems to be taking place on a daily basis.
“I don’t know about winning the U.S. Open or having enough points to be in the Hall of Fame,” Webb said. “I don’t think that’s quite sunk in yet. Every year as I look back at what I’ve achieved, I just shake my head. I can’t believe I’ve done so much so soon.”
Yet when it comes to motivation, that’s where the comparisons to Woods are most appropriate. Just like Woods, Webb wants to win and then win and then win.
Said Webb: “Holding up trophies, that keeps you motivated. [But] there’s still a lot more to achieve.”
FINAL U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN SCORES
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At Gurnee, 6,540-yard, par-72 Merit Club (a-denotes amateur):
282 (-6), $500,000
Karrie Webb 69-72-68-73
287 (-1), $240,228
Cristie Kerr 72-71-74-70
Meg Mallon 68-72-73-74
288 (even), $120,119
Rosie Jones 73-71-72-72
Mi Hyun Kim 74-72-70-72
289 (+1), $90,458
Grace Park 74-72-73-70
Kelli Kuehne 71-74-73-71
290 (+2), $79,345
Beth Daniel 71-74-72-73
291 (+3), $67,369
Annika Sorenstam 73-75-73-70
Kelly Robbins 74-73-71-73
Laura Davies 73-71-72-75
292 (+4), $55,355
Jennifer Rosales 75-75-69-73
Pat Hurst 73-72-72-75
Dorothy Delasin 76-68-72-76
293 (+5), $47,846
Se Ri Pak 74-75-75-69
Kellee Booth 70-78-75-70
294 (+6), $40,586
Janice Moodie 73-77-75-69
Kathryn Marshall 72-72-77-73
Shani Waugh 69-75-73-77
Lorie Kane 71-74-72-77
295 (+7), $34,113
Jackie Gallagher-Smith
71-77-73-74
Wendy Doolan 77-69-74-75
297 (+9), $28,404
Donna Andrews 73-75-79-70
Kristi Albers 71-77-73-76
Michele Redman 74-74-73-76
Juli Inkster 70-74-73-80
298 (+10), $21,740
Charlotta Sorenstam 75-74-76-73
A. J. Eathorne 73-77-73-75
Silvia Cavalleri 72-73-75-78
Joanne Morley 73-72-74-79
299 (+11), $17,067
Tina Barrett 72-78-75-74
Danielle Ammaccapane 72-73-79-75
Emilee Klein 77-72-75-75
Fiona Pike 72-74-77-76
Kate Golden 75-72-76-76
Jenny Lidback 73-74-76-76
Carin Koch 75-73-73-78
Sophie Gustafson 72-78-71-78
Hiromi Kobayashi 77-72-70-80
300 (+12), $13,758
Michelle Ellis 76-74-81-69
Valerie Skinner 74-76-75-75
Mary Beth Zimmerman 77-72-75-76
a-Naree Wongluekiet 74-76-73-77
301 (+13), $12,384
Catriona Matthew 74-75-78-74
Jill McGill 73-77-77-74
302 (+14), $10,187
Leta Lindley 73-77-81-71
Nancy Scranton 80-70-78-74
Nancy Lopez 76-74-77-75
Jan Stephenson 73-74-77-78
a-Jae Jean Ro 74-76-74-78
Betsy King 71-70-82-79
Sara Sanders 72-78-73-79
304 (+16), $8,579
Jean Zedlitz 73-76-77-78
305 (+17), $8,255
Marisa Baena 73-76-78-78
Anna Macosko 73-76-77-79
306 (+18)
a-Hilary Homeyer 73-75-80-78
307 (+19), $7,949
Carri Wood 73-77-78-79
308 (+20), $7,755
Barbara Mucha 74-75-77-82
310 (+22), $7,580
Pearl Sinn 74-76-77-83
311 (+23), $7,406
Michelle McGann 77-73-79-82
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