Associated Press
Wednesday, June 7

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- This was the only time Karrie Webb birdied the last hole to win a golf tournament. The putt curled in from 6 feet, the crowd roaring and Cindy McCurdy watching another victory slip away.

In six years, that was the closest McCurdy had come to her second tour victory. Yet if anyone was capable of finishing with three straight birdies -- as Webb did a year ago at the LPGA Rochester International -- she knew the Australian star was the one.

"Did I think Karrie could do it? Yes," McCurdy recalled. "She's got a game that rises to the top when she's facing a lot of competition. Coming down the stretch, she really is able to put the heat on."

Webb has dashed the title hopes of golfers of every pedigree during a scorching 17-month run, from Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster to lesser lights like Lorie Kane and Janice Moodie.

Coming off a two-week vacation, Webb opens her defense of the Rochester International at the tree-lined Locust Hill course Thursday with as much hunger as ever.

"Holding up the trophy, that's what I'm aiming to do every week," she said.

Despite Webb's dominance -- four wins in eight LPGA outings this year on top of six victories in 1999 -- her opponents don't seem any less eager to take her on.

"I just hope I get another opportunity to come down the stretch with her, and maybe this time I'll come out on top," said McCurdy, whose runner-up spot here last June pushed her past $1 million in career earnings in 10 years on tour.

"I don't profess to be the best ball striker or the greatest golfer," McCurdy added, "but I feel like I have that ability to convince myself I can do things. I believe in myself, and that's been a big part of my success."

Six top-10 finishes earned McCurdy $354,131 in 1999, her most lucrative year so far, and her hopes were high for continued success this year. But after a slow start, earning $37,919 in 10 outings, she was suddenly stricken in early May with viral meningitis.

This week, she played her first 18-hole practice rounds in a month.

"I've pretty much been out of commission with the head pain and the neck pain and the fatigue," she said. "I'm hitting the ball fine, but there's a big difference between playing competitive golf and playing casual golf.

"I have to say I am rusty, but you know you've got to come out and start somewhere. I have wonderful memories here. It's a good event to come back to."

McCurdy closed last year with a 4-under 68 for a 7-under 281 total. It wasn't quite enough.

"If I could have played defense, then I would have been more upset," she said. "But I can't control what she does. I didn't lose the tournament, Karrie Webb won it. My hat's off to her."

While Rochester will always rank high, nothing compares with winning.

"I'd like to do that again soon," McCurdy said of her sole victory at the Sun-Times Challenge in 1993. "It's a great feeling. I mean, that's what we're all out there for."