Kerr Wins Seven-Hole Playoff

Wind, cold, a bit of rain and a long playoff turned the tournament into a “matter of survival” for Cristie Kerr.

After squandering a four-shot lead on the final six holes of regulation, Kerr finally beat rookie Seol-An Jeon on the seventh playoff hole Saturday to win the LPGA’s Takefuji Classic at Las Vegas.

Along the way, she and Jeon had to deal with swirling wind, a brief rain shower and an early evening chill. Jeon, steady under the pressure of going head-to-head against an accomplished tour player, was Kerr’s biggest challenge.

“With the exception of the last playoff hole, I think she played better than me,” Kerr said.

Kerr rolled in a three-foot par putt to end it after Jeon hit into trouble on the par-four, 412-yard 16th.

The LPGA Tour record for a playoff is 10 holes, set in 1972 when Jo Ann Prentice beat Sandra Palmer and Kathy Whitworth in the Corpus Christi Civitan in Texas.

Kerr bogeyed four of the last six holes of regulation, including missing a short par putt that would have won it on No. 18.

She closed with a one-over 73 to match Jeon, who shot a 69, at seven-under 209 in the 54-hole event.

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Ted Purdy moved into position for his first PGA Tour victory, shooting a six-under 65 to take a four-stroke lead over Heath Slocum in the MCI Heritage at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Purdy had a 12-under 201 total. He won the First Tee Arkansas Classic last year on the Nationwide Tour and qualified for the PGA Tour by finishing 15th on the Nationwide money list.

Slocum shot a 70. Stephen Ames, who shot a 68, and Patrick Sheehan, with a 69, were five strokes back at seven under.

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Gil Morgan shot his second consecutive four-under 66 in windy conditions to take a one-stroke lead over Tom Jenkins into the final round of the Blue Angels Classic at Milton, Fla.

Morgan, the SBC Classic winner last month and Champions Tour money leader this season, has 23 victories on the 50-and-over tour. Jenkins shot a 65, and Gary Koch and Wayne Levi were three strokes back after 67s..

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Indian Wells Country Club, the easiest course on the PGA Tour the last three years, has been dropped from the rotation for the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Indian Wells had been part of the Hope since the inaugural tournament in 1960, but at less than 6,500 yards, it had become outdated by today’s tour standards.

Next year’s tournament will be held at Bermuda Dunes, La Quinta, Tamarisk and the Palmer private course at PGA West, which will be the site of the fifth, and final, round Sunday.