WILMINGTON, Del. -- Juli Inkster started the biggest day of her career by making French toast for her daughters. She finished it by completing the career Grand Slam.
Three years ago, Inkster was determined to prove that she could make school lunches, go to softball practices and then compete with a new generation of stars on the LPGA Tour. On Sunday, she walked off the 18th green at DuPont Country Club with the best of both worlds.With one of the most remarkable finishes in major championship history, Inkster went eagle-birdie-birdie to close with a 6-under 65 and win the LPGA Championship by four strokes over Liselotte Neumann.
The victory made her only the second woman to win all four of the LPGA's modern majors.
"I just can't comprehend it," Inkster said, searching for words to capture a feeling she had dreamed of for 16 years. "It's quite an accomplishment."
Inkster, whose U.S. Open victory was only three weeks ago, won two majors in a season for the second time in her career. As a rookie in 1984, she won the Dinah Shore and the du Maurier Classic.
"I always thought this is what I wanted, to win the four majors," Inkster said. "I won two really quick, and didn't think it was going to be that tough."
Since the Dinah Shore was designated a major championship in 1983, only Pat Bradley had been able to win the career Grand Slam. On the eve of the LPGA Championship, Bradley had a feeling she would have some company by the end of the week.
"It's a pretty difficult task," Bradley said. "You're dealing with majors, which aren't your everyday, ordinary tournaments. But I think if anybody has the savvy to do it, Juli is perfectly qualified for that task."
Inkster needed more than just savvy Sunday.
She began the final round in a three-way tie for the lead. By the time she got to No. 6, two others had joined them.
In the U.S. Open, Inkster had a four-stroke lead going into the final round and never let anyone get closer than three strokes. At Old Waverly, it was her tournament to lose.
"This was anybody's tournament," she said.
Inkster played like it might belong to someone else by missing short birdie putts on two of the first six holes. The turning point was a downhill, sidehill, 8-foot putt for par that dropped in the heart of the cup at No. 7.
"Just keep making them," her husband Brian whispered to her behind the 8th tee.
Inkster birdied the next two holes to take a lead she never gave up, although that didn't give her any room for error.
She heard the roar behind her for Nancy Scranton, who holed a chip from 40 feet to catch Inkster. She saw Neumann pump her fist ahead on the 16th after a birdie allowed her to join them at 12 under.
Inkster looked over and saw two tiny faces in the gallery. Nine-year-old Hayley and 5-year-old Cori had come out to watch their mother play the final few holes. Inkster winked at them, then hit the shot that sent her soaring into the record books.
The 5-wood from 232 yards stopped 18 feet from the hole, and Inkster thrust her fist into the air when it fell for an eagle, giving her a two-stroke lead with two holes to play.
Her 8-iron stopped 3 feet from the hole for another birdie. By the time she got to the 18th green, "I was putting into a bucket." Inkster made that 25-footer for birdie to finish at 16-under 268.
Neumann had a 68 to finish second, while Scranton and Mardi Lunn of Australian tied for third at 273.
No one is playing as well as Inkster right now, not even Karrie Webb.
Inkster won for the fourth time this year -- two of them majors. The 65 on Sunday was her 17th consecutive round under par and made her a whopping 37 under for the month of June.
She earned $210,000 to surpass Webb atop the money list, and she also took a slim lead over Webb in the points-based player of the year race.
That could become important.
Inkster walked off the 18th with her husband and two daughters in tow, right past a wall filled with black-and-white photos of the 17 members in the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Inkster could be the next to join them.
Her victory left her only one point short of election. All she needs now is one victory, or to win player of the year or the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average.
BUICK CLASSIC: At Harrison, N.Y., Duffy Waldorf birdied the last two regulation holes to force a playoff, then made another birdie on the first extra hole to beat Dennis Paulson and win the Buick Classic, his second career PGA Tour victory. Paulson, who closed with a 4-under 67, and Waldorf (71) finished regulation tied at 8-under 276.
SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP: At Dearborn, Mich., Hale Irwin closed with a 7-under-par 65 for a 267 total, winning the Senior Players Championship by seven shots over Graham Marsh (68). John Jacobs bogeyed the final two holes for 67, finishing third at 275. Irwin was 21-under -- matching last year's course record set by Gil Morgan at TPC of Michigan.