Williamsburg, Va. – It was hard to tell who was happiest after an extremely long day Sunday at the LPGA’s Michelob Ultra Open.
Certainly Cristie Kerr had reason to smile. After taking the lead in the $2.2 million event in the second round, Kerr never wavered, even in the face of what was expected to be a stern challenge from Annika Sorenstam.
Overcoming whispers that she couldn’t win an event with Sorenstam, the world’s No. 1 player, in the field, Kerr shot 68-72 in Sunday’s 36-hole finale to emerge with her fifth career win.
Sorenstam had been absent in each of Kerr’s previous wins.
Even so, Kerr knew there would be something of an asterisk in the eyes of many until she had indeed finished at the top of the leaderboard, looking down upon Sorenstam.
“Knowing she was in the field definitely makes it sweeter,” Kerr said. “I played as good as I could and won by a few shots, and playing against the best players in the world, that’s remarkable.”
Even so, Kerr’s elation was definitely rivaled by Jill McGill. The former Cherry Creek star was in the midst of a stretch in which she was scheduled to play in five consecutive events, a daunting challenge created in part, by a desire to climb high enough on the money list to ensure a spot in next month’s U.S. Open at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village.
Saturday, McGill admitted being stressed out by the idea of not qualifying for the year’s premier event, one being played in her former backyard.
Now McGill can probably rest a little easier. A 69-72 put her at 3-under-par 281, good for second place. It was McGill’s best finish in four years and earned her $200,915, moving her from 46th to seventh in earnings. The top 35 players gain automatic entry into the Open.
“I guess it was a good week to finish second,” McGill laughed. “I have to admit that coming down the stretch I was thinking about the money and where I’d be on the money list. I guess it’s normal to do that, but I told myself to just focus on the shots and on the putt on 18 (where a 3-footer for par clinched her finish), I was so happy I kept my head still and put a good stroke on it and it went right into the center of the cup.”
Meanwhile, the person who was perhaps the happiest of all wasn’t on the premises. That would be Nancy Lopez. The legendary Hall of Famer is the captain of the U.S. Solheim Cup team, which will compete against Europe this fall. Kerr is the leading American point-getter and now feels like she’s in position to assume a leadership role on the team, something Lopez certainly wants.
Kerr’s victory also meant that one of Lopez’s myriad records would remain on the books. In 1978, Lopez won five consecutive events; a win by Sorenstam this week would have been the Swede’s sixth straight triumph.
A 2-under 69 in the day’s opening 18 holes left Sorenstam in 18th place, 11 shots behind Kerr. Sorenstam shot a final- round 74, finishing at 2-over 286 and tied for 12th place; it was the first time 25 events that she didn’t finish an event at par or better.
“I am not going to look for excuses; I had a great opportunity to do something, I just didn’t do it,” Sorenstam said of her run at history. “It’s tough to win out here once. You can’t take anything for granted.
“I was excited about the opportunity, especially with the way I played this morning. Starting the fourth round I thought I was in great shape, but the wheels came off early and I couldn’t really recover.”
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
