Sheehan Avoids Playoff as Green Breaks Wrong Way

After four days, 72 holes and more than 270 shots by each player, the U.S. Women’s Open was decided by a choice that amounted to a fraction of an inch, one way or the other.

If Tammie Green had aimed a little more to the left, her breaking, 12-foot birdie putt would have fallen into the right side of the cup, forcing a playoff today.

But because she didn’t, Patty Sheehan won her second U.S. Women’s Open in three years.

“I’ve had so many near misses in the Open and so many disappointments that this is gratifying,” said Sheehan, who also won in a playoff at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club in 1992.

“You know, 1990 (a collapse in the final round) has always been there, and I came close in ’83 and ’91. It is just a tournament that I have always wanted to win because it is on probably the most difficult golf course that we play all year long.”

Sheehan shot a par 71 for a 277 total, seven under, and earned $155,000. Green shot a 71 and finished at 278.

Finishing a surprising third was Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann, who fired a two-under 69 for a final score of 281. Her more infamous countrywoman, 36-hole leader Helen Alfredsson, dropped six more strokes to finish tied for ninth at one over par.

In a final round that had the look and feel of match play, Sheehan and Green, playing together in the last pairing, fired one can-you-top-this shot after another until, finally, they both stood on the huge 18th green with putts that could conceivably give them the most prestigious title in women’s golf.

Surviving the most difficult of the four days on the Old Course at the Indianwood Golf and Country Club, Sheehan stared down a 30-foot putt to win the tournament, while Green, one stroke behind, paced around the 12-footer that could tie if Sheehan missed.

The shadows had grown long. The crowd around the green was still.

First came Sheehan, the 37-year-old Hall of Famer with one of the most patient, consistent games in golf.

She gave the putt a firm stroke, sending it gradually uphill, hoping it would fade slightly right to left into the cup. Instead, it scooted along the left edge of the hole and slid four feet by.

That was Green’s chance. If she made her downhill 12-footer, she would go one under par for the day and tie Sheehan at seven under, forcing an 18-hole playoff.

She looked long and hard at the putt, deciding that if she aimed for the left edge of the cup, she would make it.

But a second or two after she stroked it, she knew she was wrong. It trickled by the right side, never touching the hole, and once Sheehan made her four-footer, it was over.

“It was a good fight, but it just didn’t end up like I’d wished it would,” said Green, who won an LPGA tournament in Youngstown, Ohio, three weeks ago and finished second in nearby Toledo two weeks ago.

“I felt like I hung in there and gave Patty a run for her money.”