Inkster Finishes With a Five-Stroke Victory

After Juli Inkster hit her tee shot on the par three, 17th hole Sunday at the $500,000 Nabisco Dinah Shore tournament, her playing partner, JoAnne Carner, had something to say.

“She said, ‘Take it easy on us. Relax. You’re getting too far ahead,’ ” Inkster recalled.

At that point, the tournament at Mission Hills Country Club that belonged to Inkster since the opening round was virtually history.

After getting a par at No. 17, Inkster birdied the par five, 526-yard 18th hole to increase her winning margin to five strokes.

By winning, Inkster earned $80,000 and has now won three major LPGA tournaments. She previously won the Dinah Shore and the du Maurier Classic in 1984. She has also won three U.S. amateur titles.

Moreover, her margin of victory was the largest in the 18-year history of the Dinah Shore tournament.

Inkster shot a one-under-par 71 Sunday for a 72-hole total of 279. Carner, with four consecutive rounds of 71, finished second in a tie with Tammie Green at 284. Green shot a final round 69.

“I love this course. It suits my game,” Inkster said. “I’m usually like a Yo-Yo, good and bad. But I put four solid rounds together and putted extremely well.”

There wasn’t much drama on another warm day in the desert. However, after Carner birdied the par five, 499-yard fifth hole and Inkster bogeyed it, the eventual winner had only a three-shot lead.

Carner said that Inkster was faltering slightly at that juncture. Then, Inkster made a 20-foot putt to save par on the par four, 357-yard 12th hole.

“That putt just brightened her day,” Carner said.

Inkster agreed that the 12th hole was instrumental to her victory. Playing confidently, she birdied the par four, 390-yard 16th hole after her approach shot landed three feet from the pin. And she punctuated her runaway victory with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.

Carner said that Inkster also made a great shot from the fairway on the par four, 375-yard sixth hole.

“She was stymied by a palm tree and then hit a nine-iron over the tree and onto the green where she two putted to save par,” Carner said.

As the front runner, Inkster had only one concern before the final round: “Everybody is shooting at me and I have no one to shoot at.”

But she said she was calm on the way to the course Sunday. Her husband, Brian, the pro at Los Altos Country Club, probably was more nervous. But he stayed out of view of his wife until the final putt.

Then, he joined her to celebrate.

Inkster, 28, said her victory here in 1984 got her career going and Sunday’s win raised her game another notch.

Inkster said that she was inspired by playing with Carner, who will celebrate her 50th birthday Tuesday.

Carner and Green each earned $34,000 for their finish.

When Carner teed off someone from the gallery yelled, “Happy 50th birthday.” Then, someone else responded, shouting, “She’s 39 and holding.”

Later, in the interview room, Carner, already a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame said: “If I were 39, I’d be leading by seven shots.”

It was Carner’s best finish in the Dinah Shore and, when asked to describe her feelings, she said: “I feel great. I made enough money to go fishing.”

Inkster, who has 12 career victories since joining the tour in 1983, had mixed feelings about leading throughout the tournament.

“It’s a great feeling, but it’s tiring mentally,” she said.

Green, playing in a group two holes ahead of Inkster and Carner, was seemingly out of contention Saturday when she shot a 75. But she came back with a 69 Sunday.

“It’s my best finish by far,” said Green, an Ohio native who joined the tour in 1987.

After bogeying the first hole, Green, 29, birdied the ninth, 11th, 14th and 16th holes. So she had a chance if Inkster faltered.

“I didn’t have to look at the leader board because the crowd told me where I was,” Green said.

It wasn’t, however, a memorable tournament for Amy Alcott, the defending champion, and Nancy Lopez, an established tour star.

Alcott, after shooting a 71 Thursday, had rounds of 78, 78 and 76 for a 72-hole total of 303. Lopez finished at 291, 12 strokes behind Inkster.

Inkster, who plans to play in the AI Star-Centinela Hospital Classic April 14-16 at Rancho Park, had one final observation:

“I’m the only one who has a chance to win the grand slam now,” she said, referring to the four majors, the Dinah Shore, du Maurier, the Mazda LPGA Classic and the U.S. Women’s Open.