LPGA at San Diego : Walker Passed by Okamoto

That’s two second place finishes in two weeks for Colleen Walker, but this was a more painful and disappointing second.

A week ago, Walker finished two strokes back of Amy Alcott in the Nabisco Dinah Shore tournament at Rancho Mirage. On Sunday, Walker shot a 69, but finished one stroke back of Ayako Okamoto in the San Diego Inamori tournament at StoneRidge Country Club.

“This is a little more disappointing because I three-putted two holes coming in,” said Walker, who has now placed in the top eight in five consecutive tournaments and has six top-10 finishes in eight events.

Heading into the 16th hole Sunday, Okamoto trailed the usually steady Walker by a stroke.

“I thought maybe Colleen would make one mistake, but not two,” Okamoto said through Margie Kato, her manager and interperter. “But I really felt I would have to catch up to have a chance of winning.”

So what happened?

Walker three-putted and missed a four-foot putt for par on the par-3 169-yard 16th hole. Then, Walker three-putted and missed a three-foot putt for a birdie on the par-5 448-yard 17th hole.

“I hit both (putts) in the heel of the putter,” Walker said. “On the first one, I don’t know if I hit it quick. I pulled up on it too quick.”

Okamoto parred No. 16 and birdied No. 17 after chipping a nine-iron from 90-feet to within a foot of the hole.

Both Okamoto and Walker parred the par-3 173-yard 18th hole, and thus, Okamoto had defended her title.

Okamoto shot a 69 for a 12-under par 272, a stroke ahead of Walker and two strokes ahead of Judy Dickinson, who shot a 67 for 274. Okamoto won $33,750 and became the first woman to win two events on the LPGA tour this season. She also won the Hawaiian Ladies Open. Okamoto, last year’s leading money winner with $466,034, is now this year’s leading money winner with $125,301.