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Karrie Webb posted a six-stroke victory on Sunday for her seventh ANZ Australian Ladies Masters title.

Webb fired a course-record 11-under-par 61 in the final round, including an eagle-2 on the seventh hole.

Webb, who led defending champion and fellow Australian Kathleen Hull by a stroke after the third round, finished with a 26-under-par 262 total on the Royal Pines course, equaling the four-round tournament record she set in 1999.

The 61 beat the course record set last year by fellow Australian Kristie Smith.

Webb’s round included a 9-iron from about 110 meters that flew straight into the hole for a 2 on the par-4 seventh, birdies on three of her first four holes and a 30-footer for birdie on the final hole.

Hull finished tied for second with South Korea’s Lee Bo-mee, each shooting a 66 on Sunday.

Hull said Webb played “flawless golf.”

“It was just rock-solid, she was swinging it well all day. I couldn’t make a putt coming in, but it was just absolutely clinic golf on Karrie’s part.”

South Koreans Seo Hee-kyung (66) and Ryu So-yeon (70) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Seo was seven strokes behind Webb and Ryu 11.

Former amateur star Amanda Blumenherst of the United States, who led after the first two rounds, finished with a 70 and tied for eighth, 13 strokes behind Webb.

Webb equaled Tiger Woods’s total as winner of the same tournament. Woods has won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational seven times. The PGA Tour says its record is held by Sam Snead, who won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times.

Gary Player won the Australian Open seven times, and the LPGA Tour says its record is five, held by three players — Annika Sorenstam (twice), Mickey Wright and Se Ri Pak. The Ladies European Tour says Webb’s total is a record, but two of her Royal Pines wins came when it was an LPGA event and not on the European tour. Sorenstam won the Swedish Open six times.

Webb, who shot 64 on Saturday, had several threats to her lead early on the back nine on Sunday. She sank a seven-footer for par on the par-3 11th after hitting her tee shot into the bunker. Hull pulled to within a stroke with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 12th, but Webb followed that with a 4 a minute later from half the distance, restoring her two-stroke lead.

She took a three-stroke lead with four to play when she birdied the 14th and Hull left her birdie attempt short.

Laura Davies, who won last week’s New Zealand Open, her 73rd worldwide title, finished with a 71 and tied for 25th, 18 strokes behind Webb.

Davies will defend her Australian Open title next week at Commonwealth in Melbourne. She will be joined by Webb, Blumenherst and Hull in another combined Australian and European Tour event. 



AP