Defending champion Andrea Kraus, 2-down after eight holes, played the next nine holes in 2-under-par and emerged with a 2 and 1 triumph over Connie Pifer in the 62nd Women's Metropolitan golf championship at Woodholme Country Club yesterday.

The pivotal hole was the 15th, a 407-yard, par-5 with a sharply

sloped green. Both players missed the green, and Pifer wound up 10 feet from the cup in four. Kraus, a Woodholme member, was in the right bunker. Her sand shot finished 18 inches from the cup.

Pifer made her par putt, but Kraus tapped in for birdie and a 2-up margin. They halved the next two holes.