Putt gives Lunke last laugh

Hilary Lunke walked off the course as the new US Women's Open champion, smiling until she saw her father. Then, she burst into joyful tears.

With a sure putt that stymied her opponents in yesterday's three–way playoff round, Lunke became the first qualifier to win the most prestigious trophy in women's golf.

And she sealed her fate with a clutch 15–foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. "She's just got a tremendous amount of guts," said Lunke's father, Bill Homeyer.

After watching Angela Stanford make a 20–footer on the final hole for a share of the lead, Lunke completed a dramatic week at Pumpkin Ridge with a putt that broke sharply to the left and dropped into the cup.

Stanford and Kelly Robbins watched in awe. Lunke thrust her arms in the air and hugged her husband Tylar, her caddie.

The couple, married in August, just bought a home last week in Austin, Texas. Part of her $560,000 paycheck for the victory will go to the house. "I guess we're going to have to call our mortgage broker and change our plans a little bit," she said.

Lunke finished with a 1–under 70, a stroke up on Stanford. In 22 events on the LPGA Tour, she never finished better than 15th.

Lunke became the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 1995 to earn her first LPGA victory at the US Women's Open. And at 24, Lunke became the youngest American to win a major championship in 16 years.

"She was into her game and she knew what she needed to do," said Robbins, who finished two strokes back with a 73. "And she did what we all hope to do, pull it off when we need to."

Lunke had a chance to win outright on Sunday, but her 12–foot birdie putt on the final hole came up short.

Not this time.

Lunke took only 23 putts in the 18–hole playoff, and the final one was her best stroke of the day. "I can barely even remember hitting the putt," she said. "I was just trying to trust my stroke, trust the fact that I've holed putts like that."

Stanford, who trailed by four shots with 10 holes to play, pulled off more magic by chipping in for birdie on the 14th hole to finally catch Lunke. Her only mistake on the back nine cost her the victory.

From the 17th fairway, Stanford pulled her approach into the bunker, blasted out to 10 feet and missed the par putt. Her only hope was a birdie on the last hole, and that looked unlikely when her third shot out of deep rough came up just short of the green. But Stanford, coming off her first LPGA Tour victory last week, again rose to the occasion.

But afterward, in the back of her mind, she figured Lunke would still pull it off. "I know what it feels like when you're putting that well, every time you get over a putt you think, 'I'm going to make this,"' Stanford said. "I know she was standing over it thinking, 'I know I'm going to make this."'

Lunke hit only eight greens, hardly the recipe required for the US Women's Open. But whenever the pressure was at its peak, Lunke always answered with clutch putts. Her birdie on the 18th was the ninth putt she made from 5 feet or longer.

Robbins, a major champion with nine LPGA victories, had experience and momentum on her side after closing with a 69 on Sunday. She recovered from a bad start to get within one shot, only to see her hopes end with a double bogey on the 13th hole.

Lunke looked as if she might remove all the drama from the first three–way playoff at the US Women's Open since 1987. Despite relatively easy pin placements, all three women struggled at the start, only Lunke thrived.

Her short game was brilliant, especially the flat stick.

Lunke didn't hit a green in regulation until No 6, where a 20–foot birdie putt moved her to 2 under and gave her a four–stroke lead.

Robbins and Stanford didn't let it get worse.

Robbins was wild off the tee and started with three bogeys on the first four holes, getting back into the mix with three birdies, including a 4–footer on No. 10 that brought her within one shot.

It looked like Robbins might leave the 10th green in a tie, but Lunke saved par from the bunker with an 8–foot putt.

Stanford, shaky off the tee and with her putter, fell to 3 over when she missed the green to the left on No 8 from the fairway. She didn't make another bogey until No 17, which ultimately cost her a chance to win.

Women's US Open scores

(x) Hilary Lunke, $560,000 71–69–68–75–283
Kelly Robbins, $272,004 74–69–71–69–283
Angela Stanford, $272,004 70–70–69–74–283
Annika Sorenstam, $150,994 72–72–67–73–284
(a) Aree Song 70–73–68–74–285
Mhairi McKay, $115,333 66–70–75–75–286
Jeong Jang, $115,333 73–69–69–75–286
Juli Inkster, $97,363 69–71–74–73–287
Rosie Jones, $90,241 70–72–73–73–288
Grace Park, $79,243 72–76–73–68–289
Suzann Pettersen, $79,243 76–69–69–75–289
Donna Andrews, $71,362 69–72–72–77–290
Jennifer Rosales, $56,500 74–69–76–73–292
Cristie Kerr, $56,500 72–73–73–74–292
Lorena Ochoa, $56,500 71–75–72–74–292
Patricia Meunier–Lebouc, $56,500 73–69–74–76–292
Laura Diaz, $56,500 71–71–74–76–292
Rachel Teske, $56,500 71–73–72–76–292
Natalie Gulbis, $56,500 73–69–72–78–292
Yuri Fudoh, $43,491 74–72–75–72–293
Beth Daniel, $43,491 73–69–77–74–293
Lorie Kane, $36,575 73–75–73–73–294
Catriona Matthew, $36,575 74–70–76–74–294
Christina Kim, $36,575 74–74–72–74–294
Leta Lindley, $36,575 73–69–77–75–294
Dorothy Delasin, $28,354 79–70–76–70–295
Paula Marti, $28,354 71–76–76–72–295
Kelli Kuehne, $28,354 72–74–75–74–295
Danielle Ammaccapane, $28,354 74–74–73–74–295
(a) Jane Park 76–73–74–73–296
Annette DeLuca, $22,678 71–73–78–74–296
Ashli Bunch, $22,678 71–73–77–75–296
(a) Elizabeth Janangelo 75–73–73–75–296
Mi–Hyun Kim, $22,678 73–73–73–77–296
Giulia Sergas, $20,360 70–74–79–74–297
Stephanie Louden, $20,360 71–74–77–75–297
Kirsty Taylor, $20,360 71–75–73–78–297
Candy Hannemann, $20,360 75–69–73–80–297
(a) Michelle Wie 73–73–76–76–298
Michele Redman, $18,783 71–74–74–79–298
Heather Bowie, $17,840 76–71–72–80–299
Karen Stupples, $17,840 71–75–72–81–299
Karen Weiss, $15,338 74–74–78–74–300
Jamie Hullett, $15,338 71–76–77–76–300
Beth Bauer, $15,338 75–73–76–76–300
Becky Morgan, $15,338 72–77–75–76–300
Hee–Won Han, $15,338 79–69–74–78–300
Emilee Klein, $15,338 73–75–74–78–300
Sherri Turner, $13,152 73–75–72–81–301
Se Ri Pak, $12,527 77–72–71–82–302
(a) Leigh Anne Hardin 75–68–86–74–303
(a) Morgan Pressel 70–78–78–78–304
Suzanne Strudwick, $11,276 72–73–83–77–305
Alison Nicholas, $11,276 75–67–83–80–305
Michele Vinieratos, $11,276 75–74–76–80–305
Yu–Ping Lin, $10,028 73–75–76–82–306
(a) Mollie Fankhauser 77–72–80–78–307
(a) Irene Cho 71–75–75–87–308
Mardi Lunn, $9,759 74–72–82–81–309

(a) amateur, (x) won 18–hole playoff