How Swede it isn’t.

American Danielle Ammaccapane, tied with Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam and Carin Koch when the final round of the Mercury Titleholders Championship began, held off the Scandinavian invasion with a final-round 1-under-par 71 Sunday at LPGA International to claim one of the richest purses in women’s golf.

At 12-under 276, Ammaccapane finished one shot ahead of Michelle Estill (69), two ahead of Sorenstam (73) and three ahead of Koch (74).

Ammaccapane claimed the $150,000 first-place check believing she might need it to pay the bill back at her father’s bar, Ammaccapane’s, in Phoenix.

“My dad probably bought the whole place drinks,” Ammaccapane said.

It was her sixth victory on tour, but it was particularly meaningful because it officially signaled the end of a prolonged slump.

“All I can say is, ‘I’m back,’ ” Ammaccapane said.

Though Ammaccapane, 32, won last year, ending a four-year victory drought, she didn’t consider it a breakthrough.

“It was the only thing I did well the whole year,” Ammaccapane said. “I’ve been playing well this year, and I feel like the year has been building up to this tournament.”

It’s the second time she has won this event. Ammaccapane claimed the tournament when it was the Centel Classic in Tallahassee back in 1992. She won three times that year but injured herself in a fall off a horse at the end of the year. It led to a slump.

“Slumps are so hard to get out of,” Ammaccapane said. “They’re brutal out here.

“My confidence was way down. I literally had to start this year taking baby steps. I started thinking ‘Let’s just make the cut this week.’ “

Sorenstam and Koch were vying to give Sweden its fifth LPGA victory of the year, and the second in a row. Sorenstam faded early, dropping two strokes on the front nine before making a short-lived run on the back. Koch stumbled down the stretch.

Koch was in tears after her round. She bogeyed two of the final three holes.

“I didn’t feel like I played that badly until the last few holes,” Koch said. “I lost my confidence with my putter on the last three holes.”

Koch watched Ammaccapane miss a 5-footer for par on No. 16, giving Koch a chance to pull within one shot. But, Koch missed a 4-footer for par. Koch fumed afterward, repeatedly slamming her fist against her head and slapping her thigh on the walk to the 17th tee.

“I was waiting for a putt to drop, and they never did,” Koch said. “I was getting frustrated, and I saw that as my chance and didn’t take advantage.”

Koch seemed to let it affect her next shot. Her tee shot at the 17th, a 172-yard par 3, sailed off course and into the right bunker. She failed to get up and down and fell three shots back. Ammaccapane drilled a 5-wood to 8 feet at No. 17 and made par. When Ammaccapane confidently nailed the drive at No. 18 down the middle, the day’s biggest challenges were behind her.

Ammaccapane’s only bogey of the day came with that miss on No. 16.

“She didn’t hit it very good all day,” Koch said. “She was getting up and down from everywhere.”

The day began with Ammaccapane saving par on the first three holes. She also saved par on No. 9, 10 and 11 and then again on No. 14.

“My nerves held up out there,” Ammaccapane said. “I was really calm. Ammaccapane said she doesn’t know where the calm came from, but she credits her husband, Rod, with helping improve her attitude since they married two years ago. She said she has mellowed.

The missed putt on the 16th green Sunday came after a photographer disturbed Ammaccapane by clicking his lens trigger while she was over the putt.

“I let it bother me,” Ammaccapane said. “I should have yelled at him before I hit the putt instead of after.

“The old Danielle probably would have done a lot worse. I said please and thank you to him.”

Sorenstam, whose 12 victories since 1995 are more than any player on tour, is still looking for her first win after seven starts this year. She hasn’t finished outside the top 10 yet.

“Today was tough for me,” Sorenstam said. “I’m not very pleased at all.

Steinhauer shoots 67

Sherri Steinhauer’s 67 was the day’s low round. Just nine of 72 players shot in the 60s Sunday. . . . Six of the top 10 finishers were foreign born. . . . Ammaccapane’s victory bumped her from 49th on the money-winning list ($42,410) to eighth ($192,410).