But it rippled over the edge, sending her into an 18-hole playoff Monday against Pat Hurst.

Moments after Sorenstam's birdie putt narrowly missed, Hurst made a superb par save from short of the 18th green, holing a 5-foot putt that ended a marathon Sunday at Newport Country Club with everything but a winner.

Sorenstam recovered from an ugly collapse with three birdies on the back nine to shoot even-par 71. Hurst, who leads the tournament with 16 birdies, had a 2-under 69 to match the best score of the tournament.

They finished at even-par 284, and after the first 36-hole Sunday at the U.S. Women's Open in 16 years, they headed home for one more round to decide who wins the biggest prize in women's golf.

It will be the third straight LPGA Tour major that ends in a playoff, and the first at the U.S. Women's Open since 2003.

Michelle Wie won't be around for this one, either, although she had her chances.

The 16-year-old from Hawai'i was tied for the lead with six holes to play until failing to save par from a bunker on the 13th hole, then making pars the rest of the way. She closed with a 72 and tied for third with Se Ri Pak and Stacy Prammanasudh at 2-over 286.

It was the second straight year Wie was in a three-way tie for the lead at the U.S. Women's Open, getting there with a 71 in the morning third round after a 10-foot birdie putt dangled on the lip.

Unlike a year ago at Cherry Hills, when she stumbled to an 82, Wie stuck around to the very end.

She ended 21 holes without a birdie by making a 15-footer on the 12th to bring her back to 1 over for the tournament, tied with Hurst and Sorenstam. But on the par-3 13th, her stinger 5-wood leaked into the muddy bunker and led to bogey. The best she could manage were pars the rest of the way, her hopes ending on the 549-yard 16th when she tried to reach the green in two and came up short in a bunker.

Wie has finished a combined five shots out of the lead in the first three majors this year.

"A shot here and there," Wie said. "I'm just getting closer and closer. I've got to work on a couple of things and I'm right there."

Kimberly Kim, a former Big Island resident now living in Mesa, Ariz., shot 7-over for her third-round score and was at 13-over 226. She shot 12-over in the final round and finished 25-over for the tournament.

Juli Inkster, among five players tied for the lead at one point during the long day at Newport, lost her hope of becoming the oldest major champion in women's golf when she three-putted for bogey on the par-3 16th. She closed with a 73 and finished another shot back.

Sorenstam won the Open in 1995-96 and has faced nothing but frustration ever since. But she looked like a winner when Sorenstam holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the 15th to tie Hurst for the lead, then pulled one shot ahead with a 20-foot birdie on the 16th.

But on the par-3 17th, Sorenstam hit a 6-iron that hopped hard and wound up some 30 yards beyond the hole and over the green. She chipped 8 feet past the cup and missed her par putt, leaving them tied going to the 18th.

Hurst caught a huge break when her tee shot landed just beyond a small creek and she had a decent lie in the thick rough. But the best she could do was run the ball toward the green, and it came up 40 yards short of the hole. She chipped 5 feet from the pin, then had to wait to see if Sorenstam would deliver another stunning finish at an LPGA Tour major this year.

Not yet.

The 35-year-old Swede started walking to the right in anticipation of the putt dropping, and when it caught a portion of the right lip of the cup, Sorenstam covered her head in disbelief.

"I look forward to another long day tomorrow," Sorenstam said.

Experience goes to Sorenstam, who has 67 victories and nine majors compared with five victories and one major for Hurst. And while fitness figured to play a role in the 36-hole finish on Sunday, Hurst showed it's more about making putts.

Sorenstam and Hurst pulled away on the back nine to turn this into a two-player race.

Pak, who also closed with a 69, was one shot off the lead and poised to win her second straight major until she left her approach on the 15th hole some 30 yards short and made bogey. Prammanasudh was an unlikely contender, not because of her inexperience but from hitting only five greens in the final round.

Despite the heartbreaking miss, Sorenstam was plenty happy.

She was in control after birdies on her first two holes of the final round gave her a two-shot lead, but it came undone quickly. First, she pulled a short iron from 132 yards into the water on No. 7 to make double bogey and slip back into a tie. Then came two tentative par putts from 5 and 3 feet on the next two holes, both missing badly.

And when Hurst chipped in for birdie on No. 8, Sorenstam was three shots behind.

"I kept telling myself, 'It's a long way to go, just be patient,"' Sorenstam said. "The back nine is tough, especially with the wind, especially playing 36 holes in one day. You cannot give up."

For all the birdies Hurst has made this week at Newport, it was a par that meant the most.

"The feelings that you get, it's indescribable," she said of her par putt. "To have that chance to make that putt and make it to go into a playoff, it's something you dream about."

She'll wake up in the morning and face 18 holes against Sorenstam, with $560,000 on the line.