Pettersen wins her first major

Suzann Pettersen kept saying that her major meltdown 10 weeks ago was a distant memory. For those not listening, all they had to do was watch her Sunday at the LPGA Championship in Havre De Grace, Md.

Pettersen never flinched down the stretch, closing with a five-under-par 67 to hold off a spirited challenge by Karrie Webb and a late charge by 18-year-old Na On Min for a one-shot victory and her first major championship.

The 26-year-old Norwegian had ample opportunity to fold at Bulle Rock, but she didn’t budge. She hit the ball so purely that she never missed a green on the back nine and only twice had a birdie putt longer than 12 feet. One of those was on the final hole, when she had two putts from 30 feet for the victory.

The pace was perfect -- just like everything else on the back nine -- and settled three inches from the cup.

It was nothing like her performance at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, when Pettersen squandered a three-shot lead over the final four holes with two bogeys and a double bogey, a collapse that left her in tears.

She bounced back to win the Michelob Ultra Open a month later, then removed any doubts about her psyche at Bulle Rock.

“I finally proved to all of you that I can actually put it all together and take a major,” Pettersen said. “So now, I probably don’t have to get that question again.”

Webb, a runner-up for the second straight year, made Pettersen earn it. The seven-time major champion made a clutch par from the bunker on the 16th, then closed with two straight birdies for a 67.

Min, trying to become the youngest major champion in LPGA history, ran off four straight birdies on the back nine to get within one shot, but settled for pars on the last two holes for a 70 to finish third in her first major championship.

Pettersen made four birdies on the back nine, none bigger than a 12-footer on the 17th to give her a cushion going to the final hole. She finished at 14-under 274 and earned $300,000.

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Trailing by four strokes at the start of the day, Woody Austin shot the best closing round on the PGA Tour this year in winning the Stanford St. Jude Championship by five strokes for his first tour victory since 2004.

His eight-under 62 in Memphis, Tenn., was the best final round of Austin’s career and the best in the 50 years of this event. Austin carded an eagle and six birdies in a bogey-free round for a 13-under 267. Brian Davis (66) was second at 272.

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Jay Haas cruised to his third win of the season on the Champions Tour, shooting a two-under 69 to take the Principal Charity Classic by three strokes in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Haas, the only player with multiple wins on the senior tour this season, finished with a 12-under 201 total. He led wire to wire and picked up his ninth victory on the Champions Tour. R.W. Eaks (64) and Brad Bryant (67) finished tied for second at nine-under 204.