Kerr Holds Off Ochoa To Win the U.S. Open

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C., July 1 -- Cristie Kerr began a long day at Pine Needles with a sloppy bogey as she completed her darkness-delayed third round shortly before 9 a.m. But that momentary lapse was long forgotten more than 10 hours later when Kerr joyfully hoisted the trophy symbolizing her two-shot victory Sunday in the 62nd U.S. Women's Open, her first major championship triumph in 42 attempts.

When she tapped in a two-foot par putt at the 72nd hole, Kerr, a 29-year-old native of Miami and one of the most decorated junior golfers of her era, dropped to one knee and held her face in her hands as tears flowed freely. Moments later she was leaping into the arms of her husband and agent, Erik Stevens, following what she later called "a dream of mine since I was a little girl practicing six-foot putts on really long greens to win the U.S. Open."

While Kerr ended her major championship futility despite what she described as a balky swing all week, Lorena Ochoa's quest continues. Ochoa, No. 1 in the world with three victories this year and 12 over her five-year career, is now 0 for 23 in majors dating from 2000, when she missed the cut in her first U.S. Open as an amateur.

Kerr had severe knee pain Thursday morning from tendinitis and, at one painful point, thought she might have to withdraw. Therapy, ice and Advil got her to the first tee, and she launched into contention over the 13 third-round holes she managed to play late Saturday with a run of four birdies in five holes. She completed her final five holes in even par Sunday morning to post the tournament's lowest round, a 5-under-par 66 that left her a shot ahead of Ochoa and LPGA Tour rookie Angela Park.

Then Kerr came back four hours later to start the final round and, despite fighting her swing, held off Ochoa with a 1-under 70 and four-day total of 5-under 279.

Morgan Pressel, only a stroke behind when the last round began, played her last three holes in 5 over and shot 77 -- 287, tying for 10th.

"I just knew I was going to win," Kerr said. "I knew since the last time I came here years and years ago. I knew the next time I came here it was going to be my week. When I stepped on the grounds this week, it was just magic. . . . Some things are just meant to happen. Whatever it took, I was going to win this tournament -- hitting it bad, hitting it crooked."

Ochoa, 25, posted a final-round 71 on a sunny day in the North Carolina sand hills. But she did not make a birdie over her final 15 holes on an afternoon when she had trouble keeping the ball in the fairway and saw a number of approach shots fly past the flag and go over the green. One of those wayward drives into a fairway bunker at the 440-yard 17th led to her first bogey after 13 consecutive pars and allowed Kerr to take a two-shot lead to the final tee.

Ochoa's 3-under 281 tied her for second with Park, an 18-year-old native of Brazil who made a 25-foot birdie putt at the final hole. For Ochoa, it was her best finish in seven Opens and her 12th top-10 finish in a major.

"I've been in worse places," Ochoa said. "It hurts, but I just did everything I could. It just didn't happen for me. I gave myself a chance and I wouldn't change that for anything. I was feeling really good, very positive. I was very calm. For sure you don't want to be thinking, 'Oh my God, I'm in the last group in a major championship. I'm playing the U.S. Open; maybe I'll win.' "

Kerr and Ochoa were both at 4 under through their first 13 holes when Kerr first began to take control. She ripped a huge drive in the fairway and made a 20-foot birdie putt at the 426-yard 14th hole to get to 5 under. Ochoa, who eagled the hole Thursday, could only scramble for a par after a second shot short of the green, and Kerr never trailed again.

Kerr's only major scare down the stretch came at the 176-yard 16th, where she left her tee shot short of the green and chipped up to within six feet of the hole. But she drilled that nerve-jangling putt into the cup, then had relatively easy two-putt pars on the last two holes.

"I was battling, especially when your game is not quite where you want it to be," she said. "If you win that battle, it's about as good as it gets. . . . You've got to be able to win in all kind of different ways. So I was able to muddle this one out."

Ochoa could also look back at the completion of her own third round Sunday morning as something of a portent of dicey things to come. Though she birdied the first hole she played, sinking a 12-footer to get to 5 under, she had two bogeys in her final six holes and missed three putts inside seven feet. That included a three-putt from 30 feet at the 18th, allowing Kerr to take a one-shot lead into the fourth round.

Ochoa was fortunate to be playing at all Sunday. As she was being taken off the course Saturday night after play was stopped by darkness, a lightning bolt hit about 100 yards from the golf cart she was riding back to the clubhouse.

"It was right on top of us," she said. "It was loud; it was scary. I'm glad nothing happened."

Plenty has happened to Kerr since she first took up the game at age 8. She was something of a pioneer at the time when she turned pro at 18 in 1996, forsaking college for the LPGA Tour. She struggled with her weight and her game early on, and had a reputation among many players as a temperamental brat. In 1999, she began a rigorous diet and exercise regime that pared 65 pounds from her 5-foot-4 frame and her game started coming around, as well.

In the past few years, as young American stars such as Pressel, Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer became the talk of the women's game, Kerr often was left out of the conversation of top U.S. players, despite nine victories, eight in the last three years.

"Maybe overlooked a little," she said. "But I know in my heart of hearts who I am and what I've done, and that's good enough for me."