After “fear” finally set in, Lori Atsedes finally could accept congratulations.

The 41-year-old Futures Tour veteran’s first victory since 1998 was solidified after 19-year-old Kyeong “KB” Bae missed a four-foot par putt on the 18th hole that would have forced a playoff Sunday at Eagle Bend Golf Course.

“The kids don’t know what fear is,” Atsedes said. “And I think you saw KB — who is young, playing well — show fear today. And once you learn that there’s fear in life, it becomes an equalizer in golf.”

If anyone knows about conquering fears and obstacles, it’s Atsedes, who overcame bouts with drinking and drugs in her teenage years and made her way to the LPGA as a 34-year-old rookie. She has competed in five U.S. Opens while bouncing between the LPGA and Futures tours the past seven years, and she held onto the faith that this victory had to come sooner or later.

And what better place than one she visits two or three times a year because her best friend, golfer Kristen Samp, is from Lawrence.

“You play professional golf because you believe you can win every week, so sometimes it’s a mystery why you don’t win,” Atsedes said after her 3-under-par 69 Sunday. “And then you do win, and you realize that all you did was what you did before. You hope you’re in a good spot when it’s your week, and it was just my week.”

Atsedes, and pretty much everyone else still in contention, entered the final round on the outside looking in, as KB led by three strokes at 5-under par. But before rain and thunder postponed play for 45 minutes five holes into KB’s round, calling her play up to that point a complete meltdown would be an understatement.

Bae followed her par on the first hole with three consecutive bogeys. That stretch included a three-putt on No. 3 and a two-putt after a great chipshot on the fourth. Her downward spiral continued as she hooked her drive on the par-5 fifth hole into the woods on the right, which was when the airhorn blew, suspending play. After devouring a Chipotle burrito during the delay, she completed No. 5 with a double-bogey.

Lori Atsedes of Ithaca, N.y., kisses the Lawrence Futures Classic trophy.

While KB carded a Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde round, Atsedes was steady as a rock after draining three consecutive birdies starting at the sixth hole.

She finished the round with a par, but had to wait out the three groups behind her. The first threat came from Virada Nirapathpongporn, who entered the event as a favorite.

After making a nice charge of her own in the final round, “NP3” saw her 15-foot, downhill birdie putt on 18 lip-out to the left, causing a collective groan from the gallery.

Virada Nirapathpongporn winces after missing a putt on the 18th green during the final round. Had she made the putt, it would have forced a playoff with Atsedes, who instead won the LPGA Futures Tour event Sunday at Eagle Bend Golf Course.

As Atsedes sweated that hole out, she learned KB had birdied both 15 and 17 to tie her atop the leaderboard. All Bae needed was a birdie on the favorable par-5 closer.

“The pin was at a tough enough spot that you couldn’t get at it in two,” Atsedes commented. “You know, I didn’t expect her to make bogey at all. She’d been playing great. I was ready for a playoff. I had a ball in my hand and a glove on ready to go.”

But bogey she did, much to the dismay of her eccentric father/caddie.

Bae, who was on an emotional high after conquering the 17th hole, which she double-bogeyed Saturday, wished she hadn’t seen the leaderboard when she got to the 18th fairway. She said that added some pressure to birdie the hole, and it turned out to be the “fear” that Atsedes spoke of.

6Sports video: Atsedes wins Lawrence Futures Open

Atsedes’ $9,800 check bumped her into fourth all-time on the Futures Tour earnings list and puts her in prime position to compete for one of the top-five Futures Tour money list spots this year, earning her an exemption on the LPGA Tour next year.

“I’ve had success on the LPGA, but not like on the Futures Tour,” she said. “There’s something about feeling like the big fish in the pond.”