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Karrie Webb wins by 2 to complete a career Grand Slam, but her dying grandfather dominates her thoughts.
Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 25, 2001
WILMINGTON, Del. -- The tears Karrie Webb shed Sunday were not about her career Grand Slam, a feat never accomplished more quickly by a woman.
They were about her grandfather who lay dying in Australia. He helped introduce Webb to the game she dominates by letting her follow along as a 4-year-old with plastic clubs on Sunday mornings, 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 her 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, unsure if she would play hours before teeing off in the final round, 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 Thursday as his granddaughter embarked on the final leg of the Grand Slam at the LPGA Championship. He took a turn for the worse Saturday night, and Webb considered flying home to Australia with her parents.
"He hasn't passed yet. Dad said they don't know how many days it will be," Webb said. "He spoke to my mom's family, and they all said that Granddad would not have wanted me to come home yet."
She planned to take the first flight out this morning, taking with her the final piece of a career Grand Slam that took eight majors to achieve.
Webb didn't finish in style, making bogeys on the last two holes for 2-under 69. She was amazed she finished at all.
Her parents were up late Saturday making plans to leave and talking their 26-year-old daughter into staying. Only Webb's caddie knew of her emotional turmoil while leading by as many six strokes on a partly sunny afternoon at DuPont Country Club.
Webb relied on the trait that makes her the best in women's golf -- a stoic demeanor, a powerful swing and intense focus.
The only time she lost that focus was when it was over.
"It's a special occasion for me, but right now it isn't for my family," Webb said. "I was pretty close to not even playing today. I didn't do it for myself; I did it for my granddad. I know it might not help out the situation, but my grandma told me on Thursday that she wanted me to win it for him."
Webb, who finished at 270 and earned $225,000, has won her past 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 21 days apart in 1999 to complete her 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 did it 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.
Tiger Woods was the youngest to complete the Slam, doing it last year when he was 24. But no one has won all four in such a short period.
Two years ago, Webb was getting annoyed by questions of when she would win her first major. Just like everything else in her career, the response was swift.
It took her eight majors to complete the Grand Slam. Woods went 15 between his first and final leg.
"In two years, it has been quite a trip," Webb said. "I don't try to beat records. I just try to play good golf. Along the way I've broken some records, and this is really a big one. It will sink in eventually, and I know it will be really special."
Webb has won five of the past eight majors, the most dominant stretch in women's golf since Wright won five of six from 1961-62. Even more shocking is the way she has overwhelmed the best fields on the best courses.
Diaz, an emerging American star and daughter of a north Florida teaching pro, had four straight birdies to get within range of Webb with six holes to play. She never made up more ground and missed a 5-foot par putt on the 18th to finish with 68.
"I played as well as I could play," said Diaz, who has not won on tour."I mean, I couldn't do anymore. So from that perspective, I'm making progress."
Maria Hjorth, who got within two strokes of Webb after the first hole, took a doublebogey on No. 15 and shot 70. She tied for third at 274 with Wendy Ward (71).
Laura Davies, two points short of making the Hall of Fame, could have qualified by winning. Four strokes behind to start the day, she shot herself out of contention early by hitting into the trees on No. 2 and taking a double bogey. She finished with 71 at 276.
Annika Sorenstam, the dominant player on tour at the beginning of the year, was never in contention. She had 67 and finished fifth, five strokes behind. Her consolation is that she remains No. 1 on the LPGA money list.
Webb won the 1999 du Maurier Classic, the 2000 Nabisco Championship, the 2000 U.S. Women's Open and the 2001 LPGA Championship.
It took Webb eight majors to complete the career Slam. Tiger Woods, the previous golfer to accomplish the feat, went 15 majors between the first and final leg.
Webb has won five of the past eight majors, the most dominant stretch in women's golf since Mickey Wright won five of six from 1961-62.
Three weeks ago, Webb repeated as U.S. Women's Open champion with an eight-stroke win. She tied for second at this year's Nabisco Championship, three strokes behind Annika Sorenstam.
LPGA Championship: Sunday; Karrie Webb wins by two shots to become the youngest female golfer (age 26) to win a career Grand Slam.
U.S. Women's Open: June 3; Webb, the defending champion, wins by eight, the largest margin at a Women's Open in 21 years.
Nabisco Championship: March 25; Annika Sorenstam wins by three.
COMING UP: Women's British Open: Aug. 2-5; Sunningdale Golf Club, Berkshire, England. Defending champion: Sophie Gustafson.