Lincicome calmly captures first major

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Her heart racing and her hands shaking, Brittany Lincicome did whatever she could to keep it together on the final holes of the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

She breathed deep. She and her caddie sang country songs, mostly Sugarland and Kenny Chesney.

It worked, because she hit two brilliant shots on 18 to set up a 4-foot eagle putt that she rolled in to win her first major Sunday.

“I can’t even describe it,” Lincicome said moments after taking the traditional plunge into the lake that surrounds the 18th green. “It’s surreal, really.”

Never worse than three strokes behind in the final round, Lincicome stayed close as her good friend Kristy McPherson and Cristie Kerr traded the lead back and forth on a perfect day at Mission Hills.

Trailing McPherson by one stroke, the 23-year-old Lincicome broke through with an amazing sequence of shots on the par-5, 485-yard 18th.

McPherson calls Lincicome “Bam-Bam” because of the length of her drives, and Lincicome lived up to that by booming a 275-yard drive down the middle of the fairway.

“It just came down to 18, and luckily my length is a strong point and I bombed it out there and went for the green,” Lincicome said.

She hit a hybrid from 210 yards that cleared the water and landed on the upper part of the green, with the ball curling down just above the hole.

“Please be good,” Lincicome said as she watched the ball fly through the desert air, then smiled when it was.

Kerr rolled in a birdie putt from the fringe to tie McPherson, but Lincicome made it a moot point when she made her putt to finish with a 3-under 69. She pumped her fist and hugged McPherson, who finished tied for second with Kerr, one shot back.

It was the third career victory for Lincicome, whose previous best finish in a major was a tie for second here in 2007.

Playing in the all-Florida final threesome, she became the first American winner in the past six women’s majors. Kerr was the last to do so in the 2007 U.S. Open.

After receiving her trophy, Lincicome joined hands with her father, Tom, and caddie, Tara Bateman, and jumped into the lake.

Lincicome, who took the first-round lead Thursday with a 66, finished with a 9-under 279. McPherson shot a 72 and Kerr a 71 on Sunday.