LPGA Could Be Caught in Webb

And now, from the land that gave us kangaroos, boomerangs and the Great Barrier Reef, the latest Australian import is neither a marsupial, a throwaway or a vacation destination.

She is a golfer, and the way things are going, not just any golfer, either. It looks as though Karrie Webb is something special, from Down Under to on top, a 21-year-old from Ayr, Queensland, who seems strong enough to knock a golf ball from here to Perth and confident enough to will it into the hole.

Karrie rhymes with “Starry,” which seems appropriate enough. But Webb has already been labeled in print as “Cash and Karrie.” So what if it doesn’t rhyme? The math is right.

So far, Webb has proved to be such a money-making machine, she must carry a printing press in her bag. She already has won $241,638 in five tournaments in her rookie year on the LPGA tour. She has one victory, the HealthSouth Inaugural in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., two seconds, a tie for fourth and a tie for seventh.

No one has won as much money as quickly as Webb, who comes into the Nabisco Dinah Shore beginning today at Mission Hills as one of the favorites to win the year’s first major title.

“It’s my first major and I’m going to be quite nervous,” Webb said. “It’s quite a tough course, so people who have played it before will have more of an advantage. I’m just going to try to put in a good performance, play my best and see if it gets to the stage to put me in contention.

“I’d definitely like to win it, but I didn’t even expect to win this year. So to win a major would just blow me away.”

It has been a whirlwind rookie season for Webb, who turned pro last year and played on the WPG European Tour to get some experience before trying the LPGA. What she learned was that she could win.

Webb won the 1995 Women’s British Open, had seven top-10 finishes and decided that it might be time to try for her LPGA card at qualifying school.

She finished second despite cracking a bone in her right forearm four months earlier when she slipped while carrying some boxes down a flight of stairs. The hard cast she wore to protect the arm had been off only two weeks.

Webb hasn’t fallen since. Of course, no one really expects her to.

Australian countryman Steve Elkington is high on Webb. “She is the most exciting prospect in golf I have seen in the last 10 years,” he said.

After Webb defeated her in a four-hole playoff to win the HealthSouth, Jane Geddes said Webb was destined for stardom.

“She’s going to win tons of tournaments,” Geddes said. “My God, she’s 21 years old. I can’t even remember when I was 21.”

Meg Mallon, who needed a birdie-birdie finish to defeat Webb by one shot in Hawaii, said Webb is the real thing.

“There’s not a flaw in her game,” Mallon said. “She’s awfully good.”

Laura Davies became convinced of Webb’s potential two years ago when they played in the Australian Masters. Davies won, but Webb finished second. Webb said Davies went out of her way to offer encouragement.

“She said to me ‘You’re going to do very well and you’re going to make a lot of money,’ ” Webb said.

So far, Davies has been right twice. If you combine the British Open, the qualifying school, a second in the Tournament of Champions, a victory at Lake Buena Vista, a second at Hawaii, a tie for seventh at the Ping/Welch’s and a tie for fourth last week at the Standard Register Ping, Webb has played in seven official LPGA events and only once finished as low as seventh.

Webb leads the LPGA in rounds under par, top-10 finishes and birdies, not to mention expectations.

Then there is the money issue. Helen Alfredsson set the record for LPGA rookie money winnings in 1992 with $262,115, but Webb can break that this week.

“Definitely I’m surprised,” Webb said. “I wouldn’t have expected in my wildest dreams to start off as well as I have.

“I don’t worry about how long it’s going to go. I’m just going to ride it out. One day or one tournament, I’m going to play bad. That’s just the facts of life. But at the moment, I just don’t think I can shoot a really bad score.”

Webb’s entry into the fast lane is the latest in a list that includes last year’s rookie of the year, Annika Sorenstam. There is also 1991 top rookie Brandie Burton and 1992 rookie of the year Alfredsson, who have six victories between them.

As a youngster growing up in Ayr, Webb was a tomboy who said she was drawn to playing boys’ sports. She played junior golf and staged informal matches against the boys.

“We’d play the last round of the Masters and I’d be Greg Norman, someone would be [Nick] Faldo and someone would be Seve [Ballesteros],” she said. “We would have our own little tournament.”

Webb won nearly every amateur tournament in Australia, including a junior event sponsored by Norman’s junior golf foundation in 1991. The prize was getting to spend a week with Norman at his house in Hobe Sound, Fla.

“It was a dream come true,” Webb said.

Her coach from the beginning has been Kelvin Haller, the greenskeeper at Ayr Golf Club. Webb’s caddie, Todd Haller, is her coach’s nephew. Todd is also Webb’s fiancee, which keeps it simple.

Webb was just about to rent a house in Orlando, then she won the HealthSouth, so she changed her mind. She and Haller picked out some furniture, then hit the golf trail in search of a few more trophies to put on the mantle.

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Nabisco Dinah Shore at a Glance

* SITE: Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.

* PRIZE MONEY: $900,000 (Winner’s share $135,000).

* TV: Today 2 p.m., ESPN2; Friday noon, ESPN2; Saturday 4:30 p.m., Channel 7 (delayed); Sunday 3 p.m., Channel 7 (delayed).

* THE FIELD: The first 28 players on the LPGA money list are entered in the year’s first major championship, including leading money winner Karrie Webb. Also competing in the 25th edition of the tournament--Laura Davies, Liselotte Neumann, Meg Mallon, Jane Geddes, Kelly Robbins, Patty Sheehan, Michelle McGann, Dottie Pepper, Annika Sorenstam, Beth Daniel, Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley and defending champion Nanci Bowen.

* WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Talk about a foreign invasion, the list of favorites include Webb from Australia, Davies from England and Neumann, Sorenstam and Helen Alfredsson of Sweden.