Robbins Wins Tour. of Champs

September 27, 1998 / 1:20 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Kelly Robbins had a four-stroke lead after three rounds of the LPGA Tournament of Champions and, given her struggles of late, would have considered that a success.

She went one better Sunday, closing with a 2-under-par 70 for a four-stroke win over Juli Inkster and her first victory since the opening event of the season.

"To have it be a win is just a huge, huge bonus," Robbins said. "I thought going into (Sunday) I had already won. I had already accomplished more this week than I had expected."

Robbins, 29, earned $122,000 for winning the tournament at the 6,300-yard Grand National course and passed the $3 million mark for her career. She vaulted 11 spots on this year's money list to 14th place with $396,432.

Inkster had four birdies on the back nine in a 69 as she matched her best finish of the year. Sherri Steinhauer started the final round in second place, but her 71 was her worst round of the tournament and left her at 281, one behind Inkster.

Robbins has eight career LPGA tour wins, including the HealthSouth Inaugural in January. But she had been mired in a major funk since, finishing in the top 10 just five times in her last 22 events and missing three of her last four cuts.

The low point of her year?

"Probably from April until August," Robbins said.

Inkster might call that an exaggeration.

"She's by far the best American player we've got," Inkster said. "She's played so much, maybe she lost her desire."

Robbins skipped the last event, the Betsy King Classic, for some rest and thoughts of her first victory in nine months didn't keep her awake nights, she said.

"I've been sleeping so good," said Robbins, whose six birdies Sunday gave her 26 for the tournament.

Tournament stats

She said she was worn out before taking time off and had grown to dread her daily trips to the golf course.

"It got hard to show up and go through the motions again," Robbins said. "It just seemed like I wasn't getting anywhere. I'd wake up and say, `Oh boy, I don't want to go do this again."'

The anticipated showdown between player of the year contenders Annika Sörenstam and Se Ri Pak didn't pan out.

Sörenstam, the defending champion, had a 70 and finished at 283. A double-bogey on No. 12 effectively took her out of the running for her fifth win of the year. Sörenstam avoided media interviews and autograph seekers alike coming off the 18th green.

Pak, the leader at seven under after two days, double-bogeyed No. 1 to go two over. She finished with a 72 and was at even par for the tournament. Pak, who has also won four tournaments this year, including two majors, had a string of 103 holes without a bogey snapped in the second round. She had 12 bogeys over the final two rounds.

Inkster was two strokes behind Steinhauer after 12 holes, but birdied No. 18 to pass her for second. Her bogey on No. 9 served as motivation for the big finish.

"I was fuming," Inkster said.

Cindy Figg-Currier had a 69 to finish fifth at 284.