Steinhauer’s Win Is Even Sweeter

Sherri Steinhauer shot an even-par 72 at Lytham St. Annes, England, to win the Women’s British Open for the third time, and the first since the tournament became a major in 2001.

“That is the biggest thrill for me that I’ve done it now as a major,” Steinhauer said after finishing three strokes ahead of Cristie Kerr (71) and 2000 champion Sophie Gustafson (72).

Steinhauer also won the tournament in 1998 at Royal Lytham and then at Woburn a year later.

“People who thought the two that I won, they thought they were a major. Now that it really is, it makes the other two that much sweeter too,” she said.

Steinhauer finished at seven-under 281 for her second major title, the first being at the discontinued Du Maurier Classic in Canada in 1992.

After a slump during the last three years, Steinhauer mastered the Lytham links while Michelle Wie and Annika Sorenstam, two of the leading contenders coming into the tournament, finished way back.

Wie shot a 74 to finish at six-over 294. The 16-year-old from Hawaii has failed to break par in her last seven rounds at a major. Sorenstam, who won last month’s U.S. Open for her 10th major victory, shot a 44 on the back nine and finished with a 79 for a 295 total.

Kerr came within a stroke of Steinhauer after the 15th but saw her chance slip away when her second shot went past the green at No. 16. She bogeyed that hole and had a double bogey on 18 after she needed two shots to get out of a fairway bunker.

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David Edwards won the 3M Championship for his first Champions Tour title, birdieing five holes in a six-hole stretch en route to a five-under 67 and a two-stoke victory over Craig Stadler and Brad Bryant.

Edwards, making his 11th start on the 50-and-over tour, birdied Nos. 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 to reach 11 under, added four pars and closed with another birdie for a 12-under 204 total on the TPC Twin Cities at Blaine, Minn.

Curtis Strange started the round with a three-stroke lead and still led by one through nine holes before he unraveled with a triple-bogey 7 on No. 10. He finished with a 76 to tie for 14th.