Marlene Streit

Marlene Streit, of Ontario, Canada, shot a 3-over-par 75 to best her friend, Nancy Fitzgerald, of Carmel, Ind., in an 18-hole playoff to win the 33rd USGA Senior Women's Amateur Championship at the 5,741-yard, par 36-36-72 Sea Island Golf Club, in St. Simon's Island, Ga.

Streit, the 1956 U.S. Women's Amateur champion who also won the 1985 USGA Senior Women's Amateur, had fallen behind by one stroke after nine holes with a 39 compared to Fitzgerald's 38. Streit remained undaunted, however, and birdied the par-4 14th hole to draw even. They traded pars on the next three holes and approached the par-5 18th hole tied at 71.

Both players hit good drives and second shots on the 18th. On her third shot, Streit used a 5-iron from about 140 yards to knock her ball within a foot of the hole. She tapped in for birdie, forcing Fitzgerald to chip in from the back fringe to force another tie. Fitzgerald's chip just lipped out, and she two-putted to finish two strokes behind Streit.

Streit and Fitzgerald are close friends. They had both finished with a total of 222 to qualify for the 18-hole playoff. Fitzgerald, playing in her first Senior Women's Amateur, shot an even-par 72 on her final round of regulation and sunk a clutch four-foot putt on the final hole to force the playoff.

Streit chalked up the only sub-par round all week in the final round. Her final tally of 70 featured an eagle and two birdies over the first nine holes.

Defending champion Anne Sander also enjoyed a solid final round of 73, but finished two strokes behind the leaders.

The championship drew 211 entrants, the second highest total in the event's history, topped only by the 257 who entered in 1991.