By PETE MOLLICA

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
VIENNA -- For the second straight year, Dorothy Delasin overcame the odds to win the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic at Squaw Creek Country Club.
The 20-year-old from San Francisco, Calif., began the day four strokes off the lead, just like last year, to win her second straight Giant Eagle Classic. In doing so, she became the third two-time champion of the event.
Delasin won by shooting 7-under par 65 over the final 18 holes. Her round included eight birdies, including three in a row on holes 13 to 15, which propelled her into the lead. She finished the tournament at 13-under 203.
Delasin trailed three golfers going into the final round, including 1998 Giant Eagle champion Se Ri Pak, who began the day with a two-shot lead over two-time tournament champion Tammie Green and a three-stroke advantage over Sherri Steinhauer.
Green second: Green shot 68 Sunday to finish one shot behind Delasin at 12-under 204, while Pak, who had a final-round 71, was third at 11-under 205.
"I really didn't know what was going to happen today," said Delasin. "I knew that I just wanted to go out and play my best and play my own game."
After scoring par on the first hole, Delasin made birdies on the par-5 No. 2 and the par-4 No. 3, which played as the toughest hole on the course all three days.
She made two more birdies on 6 and 8, making the turn at 4-under 33 to find herself in the hunt.
At No. 10, Delasin knocked her approach shot within 5 feet of the hole for another birdie.
Her only bogey of the day came one hole later, on the par-4 11th.
After a par on 12, Delasin reeled off three straight birdies that put her into the lead that she would not relinquish.
Battled early: Pak and Green battled for the lead on the front nine and made the turn deadlocked at 12-under. Pak's downfall came at 11, when she made double-bogey after sending her tee shot into the woods. Pak also missed a birdie opportunity on 13 hole when she missed a short putt.
Green played the final nine holes in even par and was left needing to make about a 60-foot chip for birdie on 18 to force a playoff. The ball slid past the hole by less than a foot.
"I gave it a run," Green said. "I thought the chip would move a little bit right, but it went straight as a string."
Four players finished tied for fourth place at 9-under 207, including Steinhauer, who shot a final round 70. The others were Dina Ammaccapane, Becky Iverson and Janice Moodie. Moodie fired a final round 67, while Ammaccapane shot 68 and Iverson 69.
My Hyum Kim of Korea finished eighth at 208 after a final round 67.
Three former Valley tournament champions played on Sunday. The 1991 Phar Mor in Youngstown champion, Deb Richard, finished at 211 with a final round 69. Betsy King, the 1992 Phar Mor champion, also shot 69 to finish at 213, while 1999 Giant Eagle champion Jackie Gallagher-Smith finished at 215 after a final-round 72.
Turning point: Delasin said her birdie on 15 was the turning point in her round.
"I made that putt and standing over it the hole looked about a foot wide," she said. "That was one of the few times I looked at the scoreboard and saw that I was in the lead."
The $150,000 winner's check moved Delasin into 15th place on the Tour money list this season, with $416,145.
With her third-place check of $67,000, Pak went over $1 million in earnings this season. Pak, whose total is $1,026,925, became the third LPGA player to pass that mark this year, joining Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb.
mollica@vindy.com