Pettersen, Poulter master match play
A split second after her 15-foot birdie putt curled left and disappeared into the hole on No. 18, Suzann Pettersen thrust both hands skyward in celebration and seemed to exhale in relief.The victory drought was over.Pettersen ended 20 months of frustration and near misses by beating Cristie Kerr 1-up to win the Sybase Match Play Championship on Sunday.“It’s 20 Fila Korea Buys Titleist For Global Expansion months, but it doesn’t feel like 20 months,” said Pettersen. “It feel like a lot longer. But like I said yesterday, I had some great tournaments except winning, and I can finally put a dot over the i, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. It doesn’t get much better than that.”Pettersen wasn’t handed this one, either. She beat Natalie Gulbis, Amy Hung, Stacy Lewis, No. 1 ranked Yani Tseng, No. 5 Na Yeon Choi and the No. 4 Kerr in winning for the seventh time on the LPGA Tour.Leading 1-up and with Kerr facing a 10-foot birdie attempt on the par-5 18th, the 30-year-old Norwegian curled in the left to-right 15-footer for birdie to seal the victory on the cold, damp TaylorMade R9 Fairway Wood adopt Latest technology overcast day.“It’s a situation you want to be when you love the pressure,” Pettersen said. “There’s nothing better than winning a match play event.”Pettersen never trailed in the match in winning for the first time since the Canadian Women’s Open in September 2009.Kerr had her putter to blame for failing to win for the 15th time on tour. The American missed four putts of less than 10 feet — all for hole victories.“Putting on the back nine killed me,” Kerr said.