Inkster sucessfully defends title

Juli Inkster ran away with the Longs Drugs Challenge for the second straight year.

The Hall of Famer successfully defended her title today, closing with an even-par 72 in windy conditions for a five-stroke victory over Brandie Burton.

Inkster, playing about 125 miles from her Los Altos home, had a tournament-record 13-under 275 total on the Twelve Bridges course. She earned $105,000 for her 23rd career victory.

"I played well on the front side. On the back side I had some bad swings and it cost me," said Inkster, who had a double bogey and two bogeys on the back nine. "The wind was tough, it was playing havoc with my swing."

Burton closed with a 74. Sweden's Carin Koch (74) was another stroke back at 281, and Australia's Rachel Heatherington (73) finished fourth at 284.

After a relatively calm morning, the weather became a factor on the final nine holes with wind gusts over 20 mph.

Leading by three strokes, Inkster birdie three of the first four holes and was 3-under on the front side. She struggled over the final nine holes on a day when only eight players broke par.

"Juli hit a few errant shots coming in, but that's inevitable in the wind like this," Burton said. "Whenever she hit a bad shot, she was able to recover. This was her week, she played awesome."

Inkster, who had only three bogeys through three rounds, bogeyed No. 10 and had a double-bogey on the par-5 No. 12. She chipped short from the walnut chips on her third shot, went past the pin on another chip, then three-putted for the double.

Her lead at five strokes, Inkster responded by hitting within 2 feet of the pin on the par-3 13th. She made the birdie putt, moving to 15 under and getting the lead back to six strokes.

"That was huge, it's such a tough hole," Inkster said. "There is not much room for error. It was a great shot in there, then I made the putt."

Burton made her second birdie at No. 14 and Inkster saved a double bogey with a 4-foot putt as the lead dipped to four strokes. Burton bogeyed the next hole to drop five strokes back.

"It was never over," Burton said. "But every time I made a birdie, I would take a step back. I could never make a charge."

DIVOTS: Inkster successfully defended a title for the fourth time in her career. ... Only eight players finished the tournament under par. ... Swedish star Annika Sorenstam shot a 73 to tie for sixth at 2-over. ... Sherri Steinhauer, the runner-up last year, never broke par in four rounds, shooting a 73 today for a 7-over total.

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