Dickinson Jump-Starts Her Career : Golf: She holds off Meg Mallon’s 67 to win the Inamori Classic, her first LPGA victory since 1986.

Air Dickinson?

Well, maybe not quite, but Sunday was a high-flying day for the president of the Ladies Professional Golf Assn., a day for nervous smiles, high fives and leaps--both of person and faith--on her way to the championship of the Inamori Classic at StoneRidge Country Club.

In winning her first tournament in six years, 42-year-old Judy Dickinson withstood a charge from runner-up Meg Mallon, who tied the best round of the four-day tournament with a 67 to finish at nine-under 279.

Dickinson, playing in the same threesome, virtually matched Mallon through 15 holes, then she hung on to finish at 11-under 277, good for $63,750.

Mallon took home $39,564. Elaine Crosby, who began the day in second place, faded in the front nine and finished tied for third with Debbie Massey and Cindy Figg-Currier at four-under 284, worth $23,168 apiece.

Mallon set the tone from the start, birdieing the first three holes and never bogeying. But Dickinson, sporting her familiar black rhinestone-studded cowboy hat, matched Mallon on two of those three holes and picked up birdies on holes 10, 11 and 12 to go as low as 13-under.

Dickinson said despite Mallon’s challenge, her approach was not to look back.

“I tried to tell myself if something bad happens, just keep going,” she said.

It worked.

On 11, she hit into the fringe but chipped in from about 30 yards--a shot that produced several excited jumps and a high five with her caddy, Bill Buskey.

On 15, Dickinson again matched Mallon with a long putt, good for another leap.

“I had enough air time in the back nine--I told (Buskey) I felt like I was trying out for the NBA,” Dickinson said with a grin.

With the title, her fourth in an LPGA career dating back to 1978 but her first since 1986, Dickinson made the jump from also-ran to the winner’s circle. She was runner-up here last year and had five top-five finishes.

“I guess it’s too late for the Hall of Fame but I would like to win a few more,” she said. “I would like to win a major.”

Dickinson, who said she was “real nervous all day long,” had problems on the final three holes after playing superbly through 15. Mallon was able to pick up two strokes and had opportunities for more, but couldn’t take advantage.

Both double-putted 16, Mallon’s first putt lipping the rim. On 17, Dickinson had trouble hitting out of the fringe and Mallon picked up a stroke but might have made it two with a good putt.

Dickinson badly misplayed her putt on 18, bogeying again, but Mallon narrowly missed a 25-foot putt that would have put the pressure on the leader.

“I just knew I was gonna do my part,” Mallon said. “Judy answered everything. She never folded. She went out and played.

“When she made that putt on 15, I thought, ‘This is her day.’ I never thought I was out of it but I didn’t think she’d bogey those last two holes.

“If I made that putt on 16 and attacked 17. . . . I played that hole terribly.”

Dickinson said, “I expected a pretty good battle from Elaine or Meg today. Still, you don’t expect (Mallon’s birdies on the first three holes). I felt like (holes) 10 and 11 were (important), especially 11, when I chipped in.”

Dickinson played that hole similarly in the second round on Friday, making a long chip from the rough for birdie.

“That hole, I hit the green once and played it two-under,” she noted. “When it’s your week, it’s your week. You make bad shots and come out smelling like a rose.

“On 18 I kinda left the door open. I misread that (break), totally. I got lucky she didn’t make it.”

Dickinson added tongue-in-cheek, “Then I just tried to two-putt from four feet.”

Putting, curiously, was Dickinson’s strength all week on a rain-slicked course that seemed to stymie some of the tour’s best putters--a description Dickinson doesn’t claim.

“The greens here are not easy to putt and I’m not normally a great putter,” she said. “Maybe that was the great equalizer.”

Dickinson might poke fun at her game, but she takes the title seriously. Her last tournament victory was the 1986 Safeco Classic. Since then, she has battled some physical problems and given birth to twin sons, Barron and Spencer, who frolicked rambunctiously on the 18th green during the check presentation.

“This was probably harder (then the previous titles), there’s been so much time in-between, so many times I was close,” Dickinson said. “I felt so good about the way Meg played, and I still stayed close. I felt like I went out and played against somebody who really played well, and won.”