GOLF : Daniel Sets Earnings Mark With Victory

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Beth Daniel shot a five-under-par 67 Monday and beat Susan Sanders by three shots for her second consecutive Rail Charity Classic title and the fourth victory in her past five LPGA tournaments.

Daniels’ $45,000 share of the $300,000 purse increased her earnings for the year to a record $658,782. Betsy King set the record of $654,132 last year.

Daniel birdied the first two holes and No. 6 to make the turn at three-under, then birdied 12 and 13. A bogey at 14 was offset by a birdie at 17. She finished at 203, 13-under for three rounds over the 6,403-yard Rail Golf Course, coming within a stroke of tying JoAnne Carner’s tournament record 202 set in 1982.

“On the front nine I didn’t hit the ball real solid, but I got it worked out and started hitting it good on the back nine,” Daniel said.

Sanders, four shots off the 36-hole lead shared by Daniel and Martha Nause, had a 66 that featured seven birdies and one bogey. Nancy Brown, with a 67, and Alice Ritzman, who shot 68, were at 9-under 207.