Pettersen Wins a Major, Atones for Meltdown

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD. — Suzann Pettersen kept saying that her major meltdown 10 weeks ago was a distant memory. For those not listening, all they had to do was watch her yesterday at the LPGA Championship.Pettersen never flinched down the stretch, closing with a 5-under 67 to hold off a spirited challenge by Karrie Webb and a late charge by 18-year-old Na On Min for a one-shot victory and her first major championship.The 26-year-old Norwegian had ample opportunity to fold at Bulle Rock, but she didn’t budge. She hit the ball so purely that she never missed a green on the back nine and only twice had a birdie putt longer than 12 feet. One of those was on the final hole, when she had two putts from 30 feet for the victory.The pace was perfect — just like everything else on the back nine — and settled 3 inches from the cup.It was nothing like her performance at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, when Pettersen squandered a three-shot lead over the final four holes with two bogeys and a double bogey, a collapse that left her in tears.She bounced back to win the Michelob Ultra Open a month later, then removed any doubts about her psyche at Bulle Rock.Webb, a runner-up for the second straight year, made her earn it. The seven-time major champion made a clutch par from the bunker on the 16th, then closed with two straight birdies for a 67.“I knew what happened to her at Kraft, and I just knew I needed to keep putting pressure on her,” Webb said. “She obviously executed very well coming down the stretch, and she should be very proud of herself. It shows a lot of courage and guts and trust in her ability.”Min, trying to become the youngest major champion in LPGA history, ran off four straight birdies on the back nine to get within one shot, but settled for pars on the last two holes for a 70 to finish third in her first major championship.

Pettersen Wins a Major, Atones for Meltdown

Pettersen Wins a Major, Atones for Meltdown

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