Webb Achieves Emotional Slam

The tears Karrie Webb shed Sunday were not about the career Grand Slam, an amazing feat never accomplished more quickly or easily.

Instead, they were about her grandfather who lay dying in Australia, who helped introduce Webb to the game she now dominates by letting her follow along as a 4-year-old with plastic clubs on Sunday morning, toting her on his pull cart when she tired.

“The only thing I wanted to do was win for my granddad, and that’s all I kept thinking about,” Webb said, her voice choking with emotion an hour after the final putt fell for a two-stroke victory in the LPGA Championship.

“I don’t know how I did what I did today. I don’t think I was on my own.”

Webb, who didn’t decide until 8 a.m. Sunday to even play, delivered an early knockout with three straight birdies and ignored a late charge from Laura Diaz to become the youngest woman to complete the Grand Slam.

“This is for you Granddad,” Webb said as she walked off the 18th green, tears streaming down her face.

Mick Collinson, 71, suffered a stroke on Thursday, just as his granddaughter embarked on the final leg of the Grand Slam at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship. He took a turn for the worse Saturday night, and Webb considered flying home to Australia with her parents.

She planned to take the first flight out this morning, taking with her the final piece of a career Grand Slam that took only eight majors to achieve--nearly half as many as it took Tiger Woods between the first and final leg of his career slam last summer.

Webb didn’t finish in style, making bogeys on the last two holes for a two-under 69. Still, Webb was amazed she finished at all.

She relied on the very trait that makes her the best player in women’s golf--a stoic demeanor, a powerful, pure swing and an intense focus.

Webb, who finished at 270 and earned $225,000, has won her last four majors by a combined 25 strokes.

“As far as pure golf, she’s the best I’ve ever seen,” said Juli Inkster, who won the U.S. Open and LPGA Championship only 21 days apart in 1999 to complete the slam. “She makes it look so effortless.”

Webb became the fifth woman to win the LPGA’s four majors. The others are Inkster, Pat Bradley, Louise Suggs and Mickey Wright, who was 27 when she won the career Grand Slam in 1962.

“To do it a year ahead of Mickey Wright, at a time when the depth of talent is the best it’s ever been, will ultimately go down as one of the biggest achievements in women’s golf,” LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw said.

It took her only eight majors to complete the Grand Slam--Woods went 15 majors between the first and final leg.

Diaz finished with a 68 and was second at 272. Maria Hjorth of Sweden, who got within two strokes of Webb after the first hole, took a double-bogey on No. 15 and shot 70. She tied for third at 274 with Wendy Ward (71).

Annika Sorenstam was never in contention. She had a 67 on Sunday and finished fifth, five strokes back.

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Fast Company

Karrie Webb is the youngest player to complete the LPGA career Grand Slam:

*--*

Player Age Year* Karrie Webb 26 2001 Mickey Wright 27 1962 Louise Suggs 33 1957 Pat Bradley 35 1986 Juli Inkster 39 1999

*--*

* Year completed the slam

Note: Webb, Bradley and Inkster each completed the modern career grand slam of the Women’s U.S. Open, the Nabisco Championship (previously known as the Dinah Shore), the LPGA Championship and the Du Maurier Classic (replaced last year by the Women’s British Open). Wright and Suggs completed a career grand slam that included the Women’s U.S. Open, the LPGA Championship, the Titleholders and the Western Open.

Fame Games

The five women, three in the modern era, who have won the LPGA career Grand Slam:

KARRIE WEBB

Nabisco Championship*: 2000

U.S. Open: 2000

LPGA Championship: 2001

Du Maurier: 1999

Women’s British Open:**: 1995

JULI INKSTER

Dinah Shore*: 1984, ’89

LPGA Championship: 1999

U.S. Open: 1999

Du Maurier Classic: 1984

PAT BRADLEY

Dinah Shore*: 1986

LPGA Championship: 1986

U.S. Open: 1981

Du Maurier Classic: 1980, ‘85, ’86

MICKEY WRIGHT

LPGA Championship: 1958, ‘60, ’61

U.S. Open: 1958, ‘59, ‘61, ’64

Titleholders: 1961, ’62

Western Open: 1962, ‘63, ’66

LOUISE SUGGS

LPGA Championship: 1957

U.S. Open: 1949, ’52

Titleholders: 1946, ‘54, ‘56, ’59

Western Open: 1946, ‘47, ‘49, ’53

* Dinah Shore now called the Nabisco Championship

Note: The Titleholders was a major championship from 1937-1966 and 1972. The Western Open was a major from 1937-1967. The Du Maurier became a major in 1979 and was replaced as a major by the Women’s British Open in September 2000. The Dinah Shore became a major in 1983.