Golf Roundup : King Wins on Second Extra Hole

Betsy King finished regulation play in a tie with JoAnne Carner and then made par on the second extra hole of a playoff to win the $230,000 Henredon LPGA tournament Sunday at High Point, N.C.

King’s victory, the sixth of her career and the first in 1986, earned her $34,500 and pushed her all-time earnings above the $1-million mark. Carner got $21,275 for second place and went above the $2-million mark in career winnings.

“Coming down the stretch, I didn’t know what JoAnne was doing,” King said. “It was kind of nail-biting coming in.”

Both golfers missed birdie-range putts on the final hole of regulation and on the first extra hole.

Then Carner got into trouble on the second playoff hole when her second shot landed in a sand trap behind the green. She blasted out of the trap but far short of the cup.

King’s approach shot was within 18 feet of the pin, and she two-putted for the par that gave her the playoff victory, her first after two previous playoff losses.

“I feel like I’ve played pretty solidly the last three years,” she said. “I think, if anything, I can give hope to a lot of other players who are out here for a couple of years and haven’t done that much.”

Third-round leader Robin Walton, looking for her first LPGA victory after seven years on the Tour, faltered on the first four holes of the back nine, opening the way for King and Carner.

King trailed Walton by four strokes after a bogey on the fifth hole but then had three straight birdies and was even with Walton going into the final nine holes.

Carner, who is suffering from an infection that has affected her stamina and caused her to lose 30 pounds, had three birdies on the back nine to get into the hunt with King.

In third place was defending champion Nancy Lopez, coming back to the LPGA Tour after taking seven months off for the birth of her second daughter. She shot a final-round 69 for a nine-under-par 279 total, two strokes back. Walton, despite a 74, also closed at 279.

Chi Chi Rodriguez birdied five holes on the back nine to complete the final round in six-under-par 66 for a one-stroke victory over Gary Player in the $200,000 Digital PGA Senior tournament at Concord, Mass.

Rodriguez, who started the day two strokes behind Bob Charles, earned $30,000 for his second victory of the season.

He sealed the victory on the final hole, when he chipped out of high grass and up a steep ridge to within five feet. He sank the birdie putt to finish at 13-under 203.

Player, who was in the final group, missed a 10-foot putt on the 18th, a par-5, after watching Bruce Crampton miss on the same line. Player shot a 68 Sunday.

Charles faded to a 71, after leading with 65 and 69 in the first two rounds, and settled for third place, another stroke off the pace.

Crampton, who set a course record of 64 over Nashawtuc Country Club’s 6,453-yard, par-72 layout in the second round, shot a 70 after starting the final day tied with Player, one stroke behind Charles.

Crampton’s final round put him in fourth place at 206 with Harold Henning, who had a final-round 66, and Peter Thomson, who finished with a 67.

Rodriguez, who has finished in the top 10 in all 17 tournaments he has played this year, his first on the Senior Tour, boosted his tour-leading earnings to $271,000.

Peter Senior of Australia shot a three-under-par 68 to win a $160,000 tournament at Falsterbo, Sweden. Senior finished with a total of 11-under 273 to edge Swedes Mats Lanner and Ove Sellberg.

The 27-year-old from Brisbane won $30,000 and said the money will help pay off a fine he faces when he returns to the United States. Senior, a PGA Tour card-holder, is playing in Europe without the necessary releases from conflicting American events.