A few words about the changing of the guard in women's golf: Not so fast.
With younger players threatening to dominate the LPGA Tour, Betsy King, a 41-year-old Hall of Famer, showed over the weekend that her generation isn't quite ready for rocking chairs.King, who hadn't won a tournament in almost two years, captured her third Nabisco Dinah Shore title on Sunday, coming back from a three-shot deficit with eight holes to go.
Kelly Robbins appeared to have the event, the first LPGA major championship of the year, in hand when she was 13-under and three shots in front on No. 10. But her game suddenly went haywire and she hit a tree, a couple of bunkers and a lake down the stretch to open the door for King.
King finished with a 1-under-par 71 for a 12-under total, while Kris Tschatter, coming back almost all the way from a second-round 76, shot a 70 to finish two strokes back in second.
Robbins, with a closing 74 that included a 40 on the back nine, tied Amy Fruwirth, who shot 72, for third at 9-under.
"I think the tour is in a great place," King said, responding to a question about the crop of talented young players. "It's a great combination. Patty (Sheehan), Beth (Daniel), Nancy (Lopez) and I are not as good week in and week out as we were, but obviously we know we can play well at times."
Sorenstam finished in a tie for eighth at 4-under; Davies and McGann in a tie for 16th at 2-under; and Webb 29th at 1-over.
Sheehan, the defending champion, continued her 1997 struggles, finishing in 63rd place at 12-over. Lopez tied for 23rd at 1-under. Daniel missed the cut by shooting 75s the first two days.
As perhaps a sign of a still younger guard at the threshhold, amateur Marisa Baena of Colombia shot a 69 Sunday to tie for 23rd in Lopez' group. Baena, the 1996 NCAA champion as an Arizona freshman, would have made some $8,000 if she were a pro.
King, who won her 30th tournament in June 1995 to meet the Hall of Fame entrance requirement, hadn't won since then.
The victory was the sixth major title for King, who also won the Dinah Shore in 1987 and 1990.
Since then a tradition has been linked to winning the tournament - thanks to another three-time winner, Amy Alcott. Since Alcott began doing it, the Dinah Shore champion now is expected to plunge into the murky lake surrounding the 18th green.
"That wasn't a tradition when I won here before," King said. "But since that means you won here now, I'm certainly willing to do it."