Golf

No Van de Velde for Frenchwoman

Unlike her famous countryman, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc doesn't falter in a major, winning the Kraft Nabisco title.

©Associated Press
March 31, 2003

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The French player stood on the 18th tee holding a two-shot lead in a major championship. It may have sounded familiar, but this wasn't the British Open.

And Patricia Meunier-Lebouc was about to show she was no Jean Van de Velde.

Meunier-Lebouc calmly played her way down the 18th hole Sunday, smiling as she thought of friends and family back home and what a win in the Kraft Nabisco would mean to them.

Like Van de Velde, she got wet on the last hole.

Unlike her countryman, who blew a three-shot lead to lose the 1999 British Open, her soaking came after she was done, in the traditional victor's plunge into the pond next to the 18th green.

"I really was feeling that maybe it's my day, I deserve it," Meunier-Lebouc said.

She did, if only because she handled the pressure of being in contention in a major championship for the first time so well.

Meunier-Lebouc had to overcome an out-of-bounds tee shot on the third hole with some steady play in the final holes to deny Annika Sorenstam's bid to become the first LPGA player to win the same major title three years in a row.

Meunier-Lebouc birdied the 13th hole to take the lead, then parred her way in before a meaningless 3-putt bogey on the final hole gave her 1-over 73 and a one-shot win over Sorenstam.

Along the way, Meunier-Lebouc thought of her 30th birthday party last fall and the fun she had with friends and family who gathered to celebrate.

"I was thinking about that night and all the joy I had," she said. "That's exactly what I wanted to feel on the course."

Sorenstam wanted to go for the green on the par-5 18th but couldn't after her tee shot on 18 ended up in a fairway bunker. Meunier-Lebouc's was there, too, but she wasn't about to make a triple bogey like Van de Velde did.

Meunier-Lebouc did three-putt the final green, but it didn't matter by that time because Sorenstam had missed her last-gasp birdie putt of 25 feet from the fringe.

Meunier-Lebouc tapped in to win, got hugs all around, then was carried into the pond by her husband, Antoine, as her caddie joined her in a soggy celebration.

"It had to be my husband and caddie in the water with me," she said. "We are a team. I could not make it without them."

Eighth-grader Michelle Wie was never a factor, missing several short putts to finish seven shots back after a final-round 76. The 13-year-old from Hawaii began the day four behind Meunier-Lebouc.

Meunier-Lebouc beat the best in the world by playing Sorenstam's game of fairways and greens, finishing 7 under for the tournament.

She knew it well, after playing her past six rounds with Sorenstam and using the knowledge gathered to remain composed under the pressure of playing a final round in a major championship.

"I was feeling shy until she made the birdie on 12 and took the lead," Meunier-Lebouc said. "Suddenly, I looked and said, 'Okay.' I just relaxed and let it go."

Meunier-Lebouc eagled the second hole by pitching in, but her celebration turned to disgust one swing later when her tee shot on the third hole went out of bounds.

It was Sorenstam, though, who cracked, three-putting the 13th after taking the lead with a birdie the hole before, then nearly hitting her next shot on the 14th into the water.

"Unfortunately, I made two mistakes on 13 and 14," Sorenstam said. "After that I was trying to chase her the last few holes."

Sorenstam finished with 1-under 71 for second place, a stroke ahead of rookie Lorena Ochoa, who shot a final-round 68.

It was the second straight week Sorenstam had a chance to win, and both times she lost with a final-round 71.

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