Mochrie Turns Her Waterloo (No. 18) Into Sweet Victory

Dottie Mochrie couldn’t think of a better way to win her first LPGA title: Beat the hole that nearly beat her.

Mochrie made a 2-foot putt for par on the fifth playoff hole, at No. 18, for her victory in the $300,000 Oldsmobile Classic today over Beth Daniel. The playoff began after Mochrie faltered on the 18th and final hole of regulation play.

The former Furman University star bogeyed No. 18 Sunday for the second straight day, and the nightmarish finish lingered in her mind well after darkness forced suspension of play after the fourth extra hole.

After all, the playoff would resume on No. 18.

“I was a wreck,” said Mochrie, who slept for two hours Sunday night and then tossed and turned for hours with “visions of the 18th hole, where I wanted to hit it, where the pin was.”

“In the middle of the night, I wasn’t feeling too good about it,” she said. “But by the time I was ready to get up, I felt like this is your tournament to do with it as you wish.”

Mochrie and Daniel, chasing her 15th LPGA victory but first in an official tour event since 1985, returned to Stonebridge Golf and Country Club early today to warm up for the conclusion.

The playoff Sunday night was even after the completion of holes 18, 10, 11 and 12.

This morning, Daniel was confident, but she saw her hopes fade when she drove into the right rough on the 18th, 161 yards from the hole, and her second shot landed in a bunker in front of the green.

‘Really Owes You’

Mochrie, meanwhile, positioned her second shot on the green, 18 feet above the cup. Her putt for birdie drifted right, but she was left with a tap-in par.

“My husband was sitting there this morning, and said, ‘You know, this hole really owes you.’ I birdied it Friday, but it really got me good over the weekend.”

Mochrie, who made $137,293 as a rookie last year, earned $45,000 for her first career victory. She shot a 69 in the final round for a 72-hole total of 9-under-par 279.

“This takes the pressure off that I put on myself to win this year. I knew I could play well, and now everybody else knows,” Mochrie said. “It won’t be a matter of people saying it’ll happen if you wait long enough. I waited overnight, and that was long enough.”