It’s Dream of a Finish for Lopez : Golf: She sinks a five-foot birdie putt on first extra hole at Los Coyotes to beat Gerring for first victory in a year.

It seemed just like old times Sunday for Nancy Lopez. After she sank a five-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the LPGA tournament at Los Coyotes Country Club, her father, Domingo, ran on the green to hug her.

Tears began to form in Lopez’s eyes, and when she found her husband, Ray Knight, she sobbed on his shoulder.

“I feel like I’m dreaming,” she told him.

Lopez hadn’t won a tournament since she won this one last year. But this was no dream.

Lopez came from eight strokes behind to force a playoff with Cathy Gerring.

“It’s been so long since I won, I have forgotten what this feels like,” Lopez said. “I don’t even remember the ball going into the hole.”

Lopez, laying up before water, hit her sand wedge about five feet from the playoff hole: No. 18, a 474-yard par-five. Gerring’s wedge hit about 15 feet from the cup and rolled 15 feet away, leaving her a 30-foot putt for birdie. Gerring’s putt lipped the cup and rolled past. Lopez sank her five-footer for a birdie and the championship.

“I have struggled all year and it was exciting to win this way,” Lopez said.

Lopez, who started the day six strokes off the lead, made five birdies and one bogey to shoot a 68 for a four-round total of 281 and a check for $48,750. “I’m sure Ray will find something to do with the money,” she said.

Caroline Keggi, who had a two-stroke lead at the start of the day, led the final round until the 17th hole. She had a four-stroke lead over Lopez and Gerring at the 11th hole, but made four bogeys the rest of the way to shoot 75 and finish third at 282.

”. . . Instead of worrying about the shot at that moment, I was worried about a playoff or not screwing up,” said Keggi, who is in her second year on the tour. “I hadn’t been in that situation before. Hopefully, I will handle it a little bit better next time.”

Keggi had said earlier that the difference between being an amateur and professional golfer was experience and patience. Sunday, Lopez and Gerring, who is in her sixth year on tour, proved both to be invaluable.

Lopez made the turn at five under par, five strokes behind Keggi. Lopez birdied No. 10 with a 25-foot chip and sank a four-footer on No. 15 to move to seven under par. Meanwhile, Keggi had fallen to eight under par with bogeys on Nos. 12 and 14, when she hit her drive into the trees.

“The 10-foot putt on No. 16 that I made to save par was the turning point for me,” Lopez said. “The pressure was on, and when it’s on you’ve got to make it.”

Gerring, who played with Keggi, began the day two strokes off the lead and put together three birdies and three bogeys to shoot 72.

“I really though Caroline was going to win, and I was playing for second,” Gerring said.

With a one-stroke lead, Keggi pushed her drive on No. 17 into the rough, about 30 feet behind a Monterey Pine. She ducked under the tree and watched Lopez, who was playing in the group in front of her, sink a five-foot putt for par on the 17th green.

Then Keggi walked back to her caddie, grabbed a five-iron and hit the ball directly into the tree. The ball fell straight down. She later two-putted the hole for bogey. Gerring sank a 10-foot putt for birdie.

By then Lopez was already on No. 18. As she approached the green, the crowd gave her a standing ovation. The leader board had just posted Keggi’s bogey, which meant Lopez, Gerring and Keggi were tied for the lead.

Lopez sank a 10-foot putt on No. 18 for par, while Gerring and Keggi watched from under a tree, waiting to hit their approach shots.

“Someone yelled ‘Go Buckeyes,’ and I said to Cathy, ‘Are they talking to you or to me?’ ” said Keggi, who went to Ohio State University with Gerring before transferring to the University of New Mexico.

Keggi’s approach shot flew over the pin and landed about 30 feet away on the fringe of the green. Gerring’s landed about 15 feet uphill from the cup. Keggi’s putt was short, about 3 1/2 feet from the cup. Gerring’s ball dropped in--and then popped out. Gerring fell on her back in disbelief.

“The ball was in, and it just didn’t go in,” Gerring said. “I’ve said before that so many things have to go right to win a golf tournament.”

Keggi pulled her putt, bogeying the hole and dropping her out of the playoff.

“It was definitely a missable putt. It wasn’t one of those ‘step up and get,’ ” Keggi said.

Gerring almost didn’t play in the final round Sunday. On Saturday night, she took her mother, Joanne Kratzert, to an Anaheim hospital because she wasn’t feeling well. Her mother was diagnosed as having diabetes.

“I called my husband and my father (back in Ohio), and told them that if she was to stay in the hospital, I was going to stay with her and not going to play in the final today,” Gerring said somberly after the playoff. “My mother is the reason I am here and having a such a good year, because she takes care of my little boy, Zachary. I would have liked to have won for her, but I don’t know if I would feel any different than I do now if I would have won.”

Lopez has also had her share of adversity this past year. Knight said that why this victory is so important to her.

“After the miscarriage she had earlier this year, and then the health problems of my mother and father, and then the fact that she hasn’t won in a year, I think this win meant more to her,” Knight said. “Looked how she hugged me, and this is her 43rd win.”