Four-time Handa Women&aposs Australian Open champion Karrie Webb completed a perfect preparation for her return to Melbourne this week with an outstanding six shot victory to claim her seventh ANZ Ladies Masters title. With a scorching final round 61, Webb pulled six shots clear of defending champion Katherine Hull and Korean Bo Mee Lee. Webb led by one heading into the final day over Hull and Lee, but by the turn she had moved two ahead of Hull and three ahead of Lee. After the turn, Webb lifted into another gear that left many onlookers wondering if the previous tournament record of 26 under was in jeopardy and a 59 was possible? Three birdies over the closing three holes would have seen her become the first Australian to break 60 in either an ALPG or PGA Tour of Australasia event and the manner in which she was playing it was certainly not beyond the realms of possibility. A par at the 16th put those thoughts to bed but a tournament record was still on the cards. When Hull bogeyed the 17th, Webb was about to enjoy the thrill of a five shot lead playing the last and that would allow her the opportunity to not only enjoy such, but the plaudits of the crowd as she graced the 18th fairway as a winner for the 7th time. Hull s dropped shot allowed Bo-Mee Lee to join her in a share of second position as the final trio headed to the last hole and there would therefore be much interest in who finished as runner-up. That honour would be shared between Hull and Lee but there was no mistaking who would take the major honours. Karrie Webb was not only able to match her tournament record but she produced a new course record of 61 and reasserted her position as the Queen of Royal Pines. Webb was delighted but tired after her round. I stood in the 13th fairway and thought to myself that I am eight under for the day and yet I am only two ahead. I was mentally exhausted. Then a couple of holes later when I stood on the 16th tee I couldn’t quite work out how many under I was and then when I realised I was ten under I briefly allowed myself to think that if I birdied the final three holes then 59 might be possible. Then I thought I just am too tired to even think of 59. The quality of golf generally today was unbelievable. Katherine pushed me all day and just when I thought I had created some breathing space, Katherine came back at me. She was asked about the shot at the 7th? It was 125 yards metres and it was on a slightly downhill lie. I hit a 9 iron and held it up against the breeze and it came out just as I had pictured it, which doesn’t often happen. It hardly touched the flag on the way into the hole in fact there was virtually no damage to the hole. It’s hard to separate the all of them out and pick the best one but it is a great feeling just to have won seven, said Webb when asked how this compares with her six other victories. How does this win compare to her other 26 under par victory in 1999? I had to work a lot harder for it this year. I had only a two shot lead with five or six holes to play today whereas back then I cruised for most of the last day. It was nice to be able to walk down the last with a five shot lead but I actually didn t think that was going to happen earlier. Hull probably best summed up the feelings of the also rans. It was nice that I was able to challenge her for a while but Karrie was impressive to watch. She played flawless golf you can never rule out a Hall of Famer. The round of 61 also matched her previous low in tournament golf recorded in 2000 at the LPGA s Oldsmobile Classic. Hee-Kyung Seo finished alone in 4th position at 19 under but there would be another four shots back to the 5th placed So Yeon Ryu while in a share of 6th place was Tamie Durdin whose last round of 65 was the second best of the day. Denmark s Iben Tinning shared 6th with Durdin. The ALPG and Ladies European Tours now move south to Melbourne and the Commonwealth Golf Club for this week s Handa Australian Women’s Open.