Golf Roundup : Birdie Ties, Eagle Wins for King

The $150,000 LPGA Samaritan Turquoise tournament at Phoenix ended dramatically Sunday, with Betsy King making up two strokes on the final regulation hole and then winning with an eagle on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

King, who finished second last week in Tucson, sank a six-foot putt for a 3 on the par-5, 473-yard 15th hole to defeat Patty Sheehan.

The victory was the fourth of King’s career and her first this season. King, who finished tied for 56th at this event last year, earned $22,500. Sheehan earned $13,875 for second place.

The next stop on the LPGA tour is the Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa where the $300,000 Uniden Invitational begins Thursday. The final round will be televised by Channel 5 and ESPN. Two weeks later, the women will compete in the $250,000 GNA Classic at the Oakmont Country Club in Glendale.

Sheehan led by two strokes going into the last regulation hole Sunday, but she bogeyed the par-4, 362-yard hole, while King dropped a 30-foot birdie putt from the fringe to tie at 280 for 72 holes.

Sheehan drove into the rough on the first playoff hole. The winningest player the past two years then sliced a 4-wood to the right in front of a trap and proceeded flip her chip shot into the trap.

King, who had pulled her tee shot behind a tree on No. 15 the past two days, finally hit one into the fairway, and then clubbed a 3-iron to within six feet and holed the putt.

There was also a one-hole sudden-death playoff at the $500,000 Honda tournament at Coral Springs, Fla., with Curtis Strange beating Peter Jacobsen in this one.

Strange won his sixth title of a nine-year pro career with a routine, two-putt par-5 on the first extra hole when Jacobsen, who had come from six shots off the pace to force the playoff, three-putted for bogey.

Jacobsen, just back from a five-week injury absence, and Strange finished the regulation 72 holes in 275, 13 shots under par.

Strange, who had shared the second- and third-round leads with Fred Couples, had a two-over-par 74 final round that included a double bogey from the water on the seventh hole, a critical bogey on the 17th and a six-foot putt for par on the 18th.

Jacobsen, meanwhile, played the final round in a bogeyless 68.

In the playoff, which started at No. 15, both blocked their tee shots to the right but played back to the fairway in good shape. Jacobsen, a two-time winner last year, pulled his third shot into the fringe, some 30-35 feet from the flag. Strange put his third shot about 30 feet away.

Jacobsen ran his putt about five feet past the cup while Strange cozied his up to within 18 inches. Jacobsen missed his second putt and Strange tapped in for the $90,000 first prize. Jacobsen earned $54,000.