Another Big Splash for Alcott : In Dinah Shore, She Hangs On, Then Jumps In

Amy Alcott took a two-shot lead to the 18th hole of the Nabisco Dinah Shore tournament Sunday, so the last thing she wanted to do was land in the water surrounding the green.

It was the last thing Alcott did, all right.

Right after Alcott dropped her putt Sunday to clinch the victory, she took her caddy’s hand and they jumped into the water surrounding the green at Mission Hills.

There were about 80,000 reasons why this seemed like a good idea. That’s how many dollars Alcott took home to Santa Monica for winning the Dinah Shore for the second time in five years.

Alcott had to be talked into taking the plunge by her caddy, Bill Kurre, who told her she may never have the chance again.

“He said ‘Are you a Pisces or not?’ I thought it would sure feel good. But I didn’t know how deep the water was. I thought I might break my leg. But then I thought, what the heck. It’s worth it.”

Alcott’s two-shot victory over Colleen Walker pushed her career earnings to $2,050,831 and also increased her 1988 winnings to $118,652, more than anyone else on the LPGA tour.

But Alcott’s 27th professional victory may have meant even more to Ann Paulson, her 25-year-old friend who is being treated for cancer. Alcott dedicated the win to Paulson.

“I’m elated for her,” Alcott said.

Ann Paulson was flying to Chicago to be back at work at Northern Trust Bank when Alcott won. Paulson and her father watched some of the play on a television set at the Minneapolis airport before she boarded the plane.

“I’m so ecstatic for her,” Paulson said. “It makes me feel very special. It’s a real prize for me. I’m just so happy, I don’t know what to say.”

Paulson, a marketing representative for the bank, returns to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment Tuesday.

Alcott’s victory was also rewarding on another level. It was Alcott’s first win in two years and came in a tournament that seems to hold a special place for her.

In 1980, Donna Caponi shot 13-under par to win the Dinah Shore by two shots over a 24-year-old named Amy Alcott. This year, after rounds of 71-66-66-71, Alcott finished at 14-under par to break Caponi’s record.

Five years ago, on Easter Sunday in 1983, Alcott won her first Dinah Shore. Sandra Post is the only other two-time winner of the tournament.

Alcott teed the ball up Sunday with a four-shot lead over Walker, but that didn’t necessarily mean it would be easy for Alcott and it certainly was not.

Her lead dropped to two shots after the fourth hole when she made her second consecutive bogey. Alcott drove behind a tree on the fourth and two-putted for a bogey while Walker rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt.

Alcott’s lead was a single shot when Walker birdied the 11th with a 15-footer after getting on the green with a sand wedge.

By then, Alcott was talking to herself a little bit.

“Of course, you have to think that it’s getting a little tight here,” she said. “But you can’t get rattled.”

Three holes later, on the 164-yard par-3 14th, Alcott calmed down considerably. She came up with two shots that made the difference.

Alcott drove a 6-iron onto the green and rolled in an eight-footer for a birdie. The lead was back up to two shots and that’s all Alcott needed.

“That put a lot of momentum on my side,” Alcott said. “All I had to do was hold it together.”

Walker, unable to get any closer to Alcott, didn’t have a birdie after the 11th. But with rounds of 71-65-69-69, Walker was still pleased with her second-place finish with $42,000.

“I played as good as I could today,” Walker said. “I just couldn’t quite make enough to catch her. She hung right in there.”

Rosie Jones, who shot a 71, finished in third and earned $26,000. Caroline Keggi came back from her 66 Saturday to shoot a 69 and finished fourth, two shots back of Jones. It was the highest finish by an amateur in Dinah Shore history. Marta Figueras-Dotti and Nancy Lopez tied for fifth.

Alcott said she will play this week at San Diego and then the AI Star/Centinela event at Rancho Park before taking a breather.

“I just played some of the best golf of my life,” she said. “I can’t tell you how good I feel. I’m especially happy to win the Dinah Shore because this tournament put women’s golf on the map.”

It’s also the tournament that put Alcott in the water. Like Jerry Pate, who took a plunge twice, once after winning the 1976 Canadian Open and again after he won the 1982 TPC, Alcott celebrated her victory with a leap into the water.

Golf Notes

Amy Alcott, who went over the $2 million mark in career earnings, is the third women’s golfer to get there, joining JoAnne Carner and Pat Bradley. . . . How much does it cost to be an amateur? Caroline Keggi finished alone in fourth, which would have paid her $19,000. . . . Lisa Walters got the tournament’s only hole-in-one when she aced the 161-yard 17th Sunday with a 6-iron. Walters shot a 75, finished tied for 57th and won $1,044. . . . Nancy Lopez rebounded from an opening-round 74 with two rounds in the 60s, including a 69 Sunday to tie Marta Figueras-Dotti. They both won $18,000.