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Helen Alfredsson, the 54-year-old Swede who won seven times on the LPGA Tour, shot 2-under-par 214 for 54 holes to win the Senior LPGA Championship that concluded last Wednesday at French Lick (Ind.) Resort’s Pete Dye Course. The victory was her second senior major title of the season, coming five months after she won the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Pine Needles.
“I just didn’t feel like I was hitting them that great, but when I needed to, I hit some good shots coming in,” Alfredsson said. “I’m super happy to be where I am right now.”
With the field fighting against cold and windy conditions on a difficult course, Alfredsson closed with a 2-under 70 and was the only player to shoot under par in the final round. She came into the day trailing 59-year-old Juli Inkster by three strokes, but Alfredsson cut the margin to one with a birdie on the par-5 third while Inkster stumbled with a bogey. By the time the two made the turn, Alfredsson had made two more birdies while Inkster continued to struggle.
Trish Johnson and Moira Dunn-Bohls entered the final round two strokes behind Inkster and one ahead of Alfredsson, but neither made a birdie on the front nine, allowing Alfredsson to take control of the tournament. Inkster birdied the par-4 12th to climb to within one stroke, but back-to-back bogeys on the ensuing two holes torpedoed her chances. Inkster closed with a 76 and finished second, three strokes back, while Johnson and Dunn-Bohls posted 75s and shared third, another stroke behind.
It’s a nice feather in the cap for Alfredsson, who doesn’t play much competitive golf at this point in her career.
“When you are out here, something happens,” Alfredsson said of the adrenaline that comes with competing in tournaments. “I don’t really have it at home as much. When I compete, I still try my best. And when I practice, I still try to do it with perfection.”
As Alfredsson’s example demonstrates, the Senior LPGA Championship offers players who don’t compete as often as they once did the chance to win a big title. But there are some potential negatives that come with a lack of competitive reps, something Lee Ann Walker learned the hard way.
Walker shot 85-74 in her first two rounds, but had to add 58 penalty strokes to her score upon realizing that caddies no longer can stand directly behind players as they address the ball. The new rule came into effect at the beginning of this year.
She played the first round with Jackie Gallagher-Smith and Cathy Johnson-Forbes and said neither player pointed out her recurring violations. Walker’s second-round playing partners, Laura Baugh and Laura Shanahan Rowe, brought the violations to Walker’s attention.
Somewhat stunningly, she remembered when each violation occurred. There were 21 violations in the first round and eight in the second. With a two-stroke penalty added for each violation, her first- and second-round scores became 127 and 90, respectively.
“Because it wasn’t a DQ and I wasn’t injured – I wasn’t going to withdraw with an injury – that was my score, and everyone gets to see it,” Walker told the Associated Press.
Walker, who lives in North Carolina and works in the real estate industry, went home with a consolation prize.
“I may have made the Guinness Book of World Records,” she joked.
RESULTS
Staff and Wire Reports