ROCKLAND, Del. -- Beth Daniel saw it raining when she got up yesterday morning and could not wait to get to the golf course.

"The longer a course plays, the more it is to my advantage. I love it when the ball doesn't roll," Daniel said after a four-shot victory in the McDonald's Championship.

At the start of the final round, Sally Little had a two-shot lead on Daniel and three on Pat Bradley. It took Daniel four holes to tie for the lead and she stayed at thetop the rest of the way, finishing with a 3-under-par 68 and a total of 11-under 273.

Little (74) and Bradley (71) stayed in contention but never mustered a charge, tying for second at 277. They were trailed by Michelle McGann and Ayako Okamoto at 278. Each shot 70, and the finish was the best of McGann's three-year career.

The win, No. 27 for Daniel, was worth $112,500 from the $750,000 purse. Beginning with the Greater Washington Open at Bethesda CC 22 months ago, Daniel has won 13 of the 40 events she has entered, with 31 top-10 finishes.

The tournament may have been won late Saturday afternoon, when Daniel went to the driving range, worked on a couple of things and "got good thoughts" for the last day.

On the first two holes, Daniel hit a 3-iron and a 4-iron to successive greens, while playing partners Little and Bradley hit woods each time.

A steady rain on an already sodden Du Pont Country Club course stuck around for the first nine holes, at which point Daniel had a one-shot lead. She bogeyed the 10th with three putts, then jumped ahead to stay with birdie putts of 9 and 15 feet on the next two holes.

Daniel, the defending champion in this week's LPGA Championship at Bethesda CC, a course where she has finished 2-1-1 in her three starts, said that because she hits the ball high and carries it a long way, the conditions definitely favored her.

And they did.

"In the five years here, this course never played this long," Bradley said. "With Beth's length, height [5-foot-11], and arc, she definitely hits it longer than both of us [Bradley and Little].

"I did not give myself a whole lot of chances, and it made for a struggle," Bradley said. "Beth is one of the best long-iron players, and took the pressure off herself by getting in position for birdies. The ball was on her side and she took full advantage."

Daniel got some breathing room when her closest pursuers both bogeyed the 14th hole. It left Little two back and Bradley four.

"It didn't really change the way I played. I still felt I needed another birdie," Daniel said, referring to her margin after Little hit into the water at No. 15, came up short of the green, then two-putted from 6 feet for double bogey.

Daniel got the birdie she didn't need with a sand wedge shot to 12 feet and a putt. Little, who had not challenged for a title (or held a lead after three rounds) since winning the du Maurier in 1988, said her timing was not as good as the previous days. "A lot of that had to do with the rain," she said.

"The ninth was crucial because that is not a bogey hole, and I three-putted from 50 feet. I still thought I was in it, but at 14, I hit a bad chip, took two putts from 5 feet, and it rattled me."

Later, she summed up her effort: "I'm terribly excited. This is a major lift. I might have lost the tournament, but I won a big battle with myself. It feels like I'm really ready to play well in the next fTC few weeks."

Meanwhile, it had been vintageDaniel on Saturday, saying her swing wasn't right and she didn't chip very well. It had been the same at the Phar-Mor tournament at Inverrary in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in February, where she was coming back from shoulder and collarbone problems, did not have high expectations and beat Nancy Lopez by two strokes.

"Yes, I bitch and moan. I do that because it gets me fired up," Daniel said.

And don't mention the other players. For the past 22 months, they have not found a way to extinguish those flames.

=/Beth Daniel, $112,500 . . . . 67-71-67-68--273

Pat Bradley, $60,000. . . . . 69-67-70-71--277

Sally Little, $60,000 . . . . 67-69-67-74--277

Michelle McGann, $35,625. . . 70-66-72-70--278

Ayako Okamoto, $35,625. . . . 70-65-73-70--278

Kristi Albers, $24,187. . . . 68-70-72-69--279

Tammie Green, $24,187 . . . . 64-71-72-72--279

Dottie Mochrie, $19,500 . . . 70-68-70-72--280

Dawn Coe, $14,133 . . . . . . 72-71-68-70--281

Trish Johnson, $14,133. . . . 72-69-70-70--281

Vicki Fergon, $14,133 . . . . 70-70-71-70--281

Jane Geddes, $14,133. . . . . 71-69-70-71--281

Missie McGeorge, $14,133. . . 70-68-70-73--281

Sherri Steinhauer, $14,133. . 70-68-69-74--281

Stephanie Maynor, $10,888 . . 70-69-70-73--282

Ok-Hee Ku, $9,763 . . . . . . 73-68-71-71--283

Carolyn Hill, $9,763. . . . . 69-68-74-72--283

Betsy King, $9,763. . . . . . 69-71-68-75--283

Caroline Keggi, $8,825. . . . 68-74-69-73--284

Nancy Lopez, $8,825 . . . . . 71-71-68-74--284

Laura Davies, $7,899. . . . . 68-69-75-73--285

Missie Berteotti, $7,899. . . 70-68-73-74--285

Cathy Gerring, $7,899 . . . . 69-68-73-75--285

Lisa Walters, $6,949. . . . . 73-71-74-68--286

Nancy Harvey, $6,949. . . . . 72-71-72-71--286

Terry-Jo Myers, $6,949. . . . 69-74-71-72--286

Deb Richard, $6,949 . . . . . 67-72-74-73--286

Patty Sheehan, $6,274 . . . . 72-72-73-70--287

Cindy Figg-Currier, $6,274. . 69-72-71-75--287

Meg Mallon, $5,724. . . . . . 71-71-74-72--288

Barb Bunkowsky, $5,724. . . . 71-70-73-74--288

Joan Pitcock, $5,724. . . . . 70-69-74-75--288

Lynn Adams, $4,868. . . . . . 69-76-71-73--289

Liselotte Neumann, $4,868 . . 73-71-72-73--289

Nancy Scranton, $4,868. . . . 71-73-72-73--289

Janet Anderson, $4,868. . . . 72-72-70-75--289 Shirley Furlong, $4,868 . . . 71-73-70-75--289

Mary Anne Klinchock, $4,868 . 71-71-68-79--289

Anne-Marie Palli, $3,859. . . 70-75-73-72--290

Laurie Rinker, $3,859 . . . . 76-67-74-73--290

Colleen Walker, $3,859. . . . 69-73-73-75--290

Amy Benz, $3,859. . . . . . . 72-70-72-76--290

Nina Foust, $3,859. . . . . . 70-72-72-76--290

Becky Pearson, $2,866 . . . . 71-74-73-73--291

Martha Nause, $2,866. . . . . 72-71-74-74--291

Diana Heinicke-Rauch, $2,866. 75-66-75-75--291

Debbie Massey, $2,866 . . . . 70-71-75-75--291

Laura Baugh, $2,866 . . . . . 72-71-72-76--291

Tina Purtzer, $2,866. . . . . 69-75-70-77--291

Hiromi Kobayashi, $2,866. . . 71-72-71-77--291

Michelle Fuller, $2,866 . . . 70-73-71-77--291

Mary Beth Zimmerman, $1,980 . 67-74-78-73--292

Kim Shipman, $1,980 . . . . . 70-74-74-74--292

Kris Monaghan, $1,980 . . . . 71-73-72-76--292

Shelley Hamlin, $1,980. . . . 74-70-71-77--292

Muffin Spencer-Devlin, $1,980 69-75-71-77--292

Danielle Ammaccapane, $1,980. 69-72-73-78--292

Rosie Jones, $1,446 . . . . . 73-71-76-73--293

Kay Cockerill, $1,446 . . . . 70-74-74-75--293

Laurel Kean, $1,446 . . . . . 74-71-72-76--293

Alice Ritzman, $1,446 . . . . 70-72-73-78--293

Alice Miller, $1,186. . . . . 76-69-75-75--295

Amy Alcott, $1,186. . . . . . 74-71-73-77--295

Robin Walton, $1,186. . . . . 69-72-73-81--295

Val Skinner, $1,024 . . . . . 70-73-77-76--296

Myra Blackwelder, $1,024. . . 74-70-75-77--296

Mitzi Edge, $1,024. . . . . . 73-68-78-77--296

Dana Lofland, $1,024. . . . . 72-71-74-79--296

Kathy Postlewait, $1,024. . . 70-74-72-80--296

Jill Briles-Hinton, $893. . . 72-73-75-77--297

Donna White, $893 . . . . . . 70-74-75-78--297

Gail Graham, $837 . . . . . . 73-72-74-79--298

Janice Gibson, $818 . . . . . 73-72-78-76--299

Nanci Bowen, $799 . . . . . . 71-74-77-79--301

Leaders' cards

Par out:.. ..444 434 435-35

Daniel out:. 444 334 435-34

Bradley out: 444 433 435-34

Little out:. 454 434 436-37

McGann out:. 444 424 434-33

Okamoto out: 444 434 436-36

Par in:.. .. 454 344 534-36--71

Daniel in:.. 543 344 434-34--68

Bradley in:. 554 353 525-37--71

Little in:.. 444 356 434-37--74

McGann in:.. 554 344 534-37--70

Okamoto in:. 454 343 434-34--70