Women’s Golf : Lopez Wins Again With a Record 20-Under-Par 268

Nancy Lopez shot a six-under-par 66 Sunday to romp to a 10-stroke victory in a $210,000 tournament, setting two LPGA records in the process. She boosted her season’s winnings to $332,772 with a first-place check for $31,500, surpassing the record of $324,804 held by Alice Miller entering this week’s play.

Miller suffered from heat exhaustion Sunday on the 14th hole of the Willow Creek Golf Club and had to drop out of the tournament.

Lopez also broke a pair of LPGA scoring records. Her 20-under-par total of 268 bettered Hollis Stacy’s 72-hole mark of 271 set in 1977, and was also better than the 18-under score by Jan Stephenson in a 54-hole tournament in 1981.

“What I did really hasn’t sunk in,” Lopez said. “If I were sitting back watching someone shoot 20-under, though, I wouldn’t be able to believe it. I’d think they had just gone crazy.”

Lopez led all the way in grabbing her fourth victory of the season and was never pressed during the final round.

Lopez began the day with a four-shot lead, pushed it to five with a first-hole birdie and was eight shots ahead after five holes. Her lead then never dropped below seven strokes. A tap-in birdie on the par-5 10th hole put her four-under for the day and one ahead of Stacy’s record pace. She also birdied the 12th and 17th holes coming in to smash that record.

Valerie Skinner closed with a par-72 Sunday and finished second at 10-under 278. Jane Geddes rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole to tie Lori Garbacz for third place at eight-under 280. “In order to challenge that lead today you would have to have been unbelievable,” Skinner said. “ I didn’t exactly want to play for second, but by the time we made the turn I figured that was about it.”

Lopez has won four of her last nine tournaments and has not finished worse than fourth since mid-May. Of her last 33 rounds, 30 have been under par.

“I’ve been playing very well, very consistently,” she said. “But this was a week when everything fell together. Every time I got a chance to swing at the ball, it was going at the hole.

“I just played the golf course this week and took what it gave me. And it just happened to be 20-under.”