King Surges From 11 Shots Back, Beats Sheehan to Keep Open Title : Women’s golf: Defending champion has rounds of 71 and 70 after rain forces a 36-hole final day of play.

DULUTH, Ga. —  Betsy King came from 11 shots behind in the final 33 holes to win her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Open Sunday.

After rain forced a final day with 36 holes of play, King shot 71 and 70 for a four-under-par 284 total and a one-shot victory over Patty Sheehan, who had led by eight shots with 23 holes to play. Sheehan had rounds of 75 and 76 Sunday.

King became the fifth player to win consecutive Opens.

“I don’t think you’ll see Patty falter that badly very many times,” King said as she watched Sheehan play the last two holes needing a birdie to force an 18-hole playoff.

“I didn’t even think I was in the event until the last 10 holes,” King said.

“If Patty had been able to have a night to sleep on her third round and then practice, she may have done better.”

“I just didn’t feel well all day,” Sheehan said, breaking into tears during a television interview. “I figured if I played like this on the first two days I’d have missed the cut, so I can look at it in a positive light.

“It’s not the end of the world,” she said. “I tried very hard. It just wasn’t my week. I know one day I’m going to win a U.S. Open. It just wasn’t this year.”

It was the 22nd LPGA Tour victory and the second this year for King, the other coming in another major, the Dinah Shore.

“Going into the week I didn’t think I was playing that well,” King said.

The victory was worth $85,000, increasing King’s season earnings to $361,431.

The others to have won consecutive Open titles: Hollis Stacy, 1977-78; Susie Maxwell Berning, 1972-73; Donna Caponi, 1969-70, and Mickey Wright, 1958-59.

“I’m too old to win a record number of Opens,” said King, 34. “I feel fortunate to have won two.”

Sheehan had a great start, making birdies on the second and third holes in the morning round to go 12 under for the tournament. At that point she had an eight-shot lead on the field and an 11-shot lead over King.

Sheehan bogeyed the seventh, then was eight over par in a 14-hole stretch that carried through the front side of her afternoon round--the bogey on No. 9 knocking her out of the lead for the first time since the tournament began. It left her one shot behind King, who was four under at that point.

King took a two-shot lead with a birdie on the 11th hole, then bogeyed the 12th before parring in on the 6,298-yard Riverside Course at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

Sheehan pulled even with birdies of 20 feet on the 14th and four feet on the 15th, but a bogey four on No. 17 ended her chance at a playoff.

Dottie Mochrie tied for third with the best round of the day, a six-under-par 66. She played the back nine first and put together birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 to get within two shots with three holes to play, but never got closer. She had a 72 in the third round.

Danielle Ammaccapane shot 70 and 71 for her share of third.

Another shot back was Mary Murphy, who had rounds of 69 and 74.

The field was forced to a 36-hole final day when six suspensions of play due to rain required three days to finish the first two rounds.