Mallon wins first-ever North American double
Meg Mallon added the Canadian Open to the U.S. Open title she won a week ago, giving her a rare North American double.
Updated: July 11, 2004, 7:49 PM ET
Associated Press
NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario -- Meg Mallon completed her North American double on Sunday, running away to win the Canadian Women's Open a week after winning the U.S. Women's Open.
Leaning heavily on her sharp putting stroke, Mallon shot a final-round 2-under 70, finishing with an 18-under 270 to win $195,000 at Legends on the Niagara Battlefield course.
Defending champion Beth Daniel finished second, four strokes back, after shooting a final-round 70. Jean Bartholomew (69) and Lorena Ochoa (70) finished in a tie for third at 276.
Mallon became the first woman to win both U.S. and Canadian titles in the same year and her 18-under matched a tournament record for lowest score, first set by Brandie Burton in 1998 at Windsor, Ontario.
She also became only the third U.S. Open champion to win an LPGA event the following week, joining Se Ri Pak, who did it in 1998 and Jane Geddes in 1986. Louise Suggs also won back-to-back events in 1952, but that's when the All-America Women's Open was held six weeks after the U.S. Open.
It was the first time Mallon has won consecutive events, and she became the first to do so since Candie Kung won the Wachovia LPGA Classic and State Farm Classic last August. For Mallon, it was also her third Canadian title after winning it in 2000 and '02 to match Pat Bradley, who won the tournament a record three times in the 1980s.
Dawn Coe-Jones (71) and Lorie Kane (68) were the top Canadians, finishing at 277 in a tie for fifth in a tournament that hasn't had a native champion since Jocelyne Bourassa won the inaugural event in 1973.
Mallon has been on a roll since shooting a final round 6-under 65 to win her second U.S. Open at South Hadley, Mass., last weekend. She's now 28-under in her last six rounds of competition, and will take next weekend off before heading to France to compete at the Evian Masters, which begins on July 21.
After opening the Canadian Open with a first-round low 65 on Thursday, she became the fourth player to win an LPGA event leading wire-to-wire this season. The victory was Mallon's second of the year and 17th of her 18-year career, a notable resurgence after she combined for just two wins in her previous three seasons.
Mallon began the day with a four-stroke lead over Daniel, eventually increasing it to six when Daniel bogeyed out of the rough on No. 4, and Mallon sank an 11-foot putt for birdie on 5. Her other birdie came on the par-3 No. 8, when she hit her tee shot to about eight feet from the hole.
Just as impressive was Mallon's ability to save par. She hit a 5-footer for par on No. 2. Then, on the par-3 3rd, Mallon hit a 9-footer on a sloped green _ the ball rolling in from the side _ to stay even. She also saved par with a 4-footer on the 16th after being forced to lay up when her tee shot went into the rough, followed by a 7-footer on 17.
Except for her two bogeys in the second round, Mallon has shot par or better in 95 of her last 97 holes, going back to the third round of the U.S. Open.
No one else on Sunday's leaderboard could muster a challenge on a warm, sunny day that had the potential to provide good scoring conditions.
Jamie Hullett's 67 was the low score of the day, allowing her to finish in a tie for seventh with Wendy Ward (69) at 278.
With $1.002 million in winnings, Mallon is second only to Annika Sorenstam on this season's money list.
Paula Creamer was the low amateur finishing in a tie for 18th at 6-under 282. Creamer tied Michele Wie as the U.S. Open's low amateur.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press
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