Connie Masterson, of Sorrento, Fla., birdied the 14th hole to take her first lead in the final match and then hung on for a 1 up victory over Holly Reynolds, of Morrisville, Vt., at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, at Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis, in Jackson, Wyo..

Masterson, 21, had yielded three consecutive holes to Reynolds, 21, had yielded three consecutive holes to Reynolds, 21, to fall 2 down after four holes before steadying herself and not allowing Reynolds to win another hole the rest of the way. She whittled away at Reynolds's lead, winning the seventh and ninth holes with pars to square the match.

The deciding hole was the 372-yard 14th, where Masterson holed a 12-footer for a birdie. The players halved each of the following four holes, three with pars and each with birdie 3s on the 17th.

"I'm a battler; I don't let anything get me down," said Masterson. "I just kept telling myself, 'You can win this!' I felt like I was in control because I came from 2 down.

"Wow! I haven't won a golf tournament since junior golf. I can't even remember back that far. I must have been 15 or 16; somewhere in there."

"She doesn't know the meaning of the word conservative," said Reynolds, a senior at the University of Kansas, who never trailed in a match until the final. "Everything she hit was right at the pin. I'm more of a conservative player."

Masterson reached the final with a 4 and 2 victory over Jill McGill, 21, of Denver, Colo. She never trailed in building a 4 up lead through 13 holes. She closed out the match with a birdie 2 on the 16th hole and finished at 1 under par for her morning round.

Reynolds advanced with a 3 and 2 victory over Missy Arthur, 21, of Ames, Iowa. Reynolds birdied three of the first four holes to take a quick 4 up lead. She was 2 under par when she ended the match with a par 3 on the 16th hole.

Masterson, a senior at Central Florida University, was a survivor from start to finish. She survived a playoff after 36 holes of stroke play qualifying to reach the match play field of 32 players. Then she defeated qualifying co-medallist Christie Kerr (148), 15, of Miami; the reigning U.S. Girls' Junior champion, Jamie Koizumi, of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; and last year's WAPL runner-up Sara Evens, of Grafton, N.D., just to reach the semifinals. Her match against Evens went 26 holes, a championship record.

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