After Tying Course Record With 63, Betsy King Wins Playoff to Keep Title
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Defending champion Betsy King, who tied the course record with a final-round 63, sank a six-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff Monday to win the $200,000 LPGA Rail Charity tournament.
King, who started the day seven strokes behind the leaders, made the putt for the victory after going by the hole on a 50-foot eagle putt.
Cathy Kratzert, one of the second-round leaders, and Alice Ritzman, who was one stroke off the pace after 36 holes, joined King in the playoff after the three registered 54-hole scores of 11-under-par 205. Kratzert had a final-round 70, while Ritzman came in with a 69.
The three birdied the first three playoff holes before reaching the decisive par-5, 481-yard 13th hole.
King, who shot a 30 on the front nine, had nine birdies and no bogeys in her round Monday as she took home the first prize of $30,000. Her 63 matched the course record set by JoAnne Carner in 1980.
Ritzman had a one-stroke lead going into the 54th hole but bogeyed to set up the playoff.
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