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SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — This wasn't quite the "shot heard 'round the world," though Mo Martin did hear it.

Thinking only about the quality of the shot — not that it might be the winning shot in the Ricoh Women's British Open — Martin hit a 3-wood from just under 240 yards on the par-5 18th hole at Royal Birkdale and watched it bounced along the links toward the flag.

"When it was rolling on the ground, I said, 'Sit!' And then I said, 'Go!' And it looked perfect, so I didn't have anything more to say," Martin said.

And then came a sound she won't soon forget.

"I heard it hit the pin from the fairway," Martin said, the silver trophy at her side. "That was a pretty fun feeling."

The ball rolled against the middle of the flagstick and settled 6 feet away for an eagle. She didn't realize just how important it was until an hour later, when Shanshan Feng of China and Inbee Park of South Korea couldn't stay under par, and then couldn't make birdie over the two par-5 closing holes to catch her.

Martin closed with an even-par 72 — no one broke par in the 25 mph wind Sunday — and finished at 1-under 287 for a one-shot victory over Feng and Suzann Pettersen, whose birdie-birdie finish was too late to atone for a pair of double bogeys earlier in the round.

Americans now have won the first three majors of the LPGA Tour season for the first time since 1999, with Martin following Lexi Thompson at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and Michelle Wie at the U.S. Women's Open.

The beauty of links golf is that it can be so unpredictable, and the biggest surprise turned out to be Martin. She had never won on the LPGA Tour in 63 previous attempts, and her first win made her a major champion.

"It's still soaking in, along with champagne in my jacket," Martin said, doused by other players when she returned from the range to collect her trophy. "This is just unbelievable. It's literally a dream come true."

She won with an eagle — her first of the year, not unusual considering she is among the shortest hitters in women's golf. She doesn't get many chances. The timing for this one could not have been any better.

And she was never closer than within two shots of the leaders — until one shot changed everything.

"An absolutely perfect 3-wood," she said. "It's definitely one to remember."

Feng made eight straight pars — that constituted a charge on this difficult day — until a bogey on the 16th. A playoff still looked likely with two par 5s still to play. She missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th, and hit into a bunker on the 18th and missed a 10-foot birdie putt. She closed with a 75.

Park, trying to become the seventh woman to capture four of the LPGA Tour's majors, recovered from a double bogey-bogey start to the back nine with a 20-foot birdie on the 13th, only to fall back to even par when she went over the 14th green and made bogey.

She missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th, and then hit into the rough off the tee on the 18th and into a bunker for her third shot. She bogeyed the last for a 77.

"Made a lot of mistakes that I really didn't need to make," Park said. "Obviously, the last hole drive was really disappointing."

Martin was on the practice range preparing for a playoff that never happened when she hugged her caddie, Kyle Morrison.

"Is this real life?" she said.

It seemed like a fairy tale for Martin. Growing up with modest means, her father built a cage in their driveway for her to practice hitting balls. She walked on at UCLA. She needed financial help to keep her dream alive, including the six years it took just to reach the LPGA Tour. Martin said she would keep trying if she woke up happy, felt she was still contributing something to women's golf and could pay her bills.

And here she is — Mighty Mo, never happier.

And the players couldn't be happier for Martin, whose popularity is rooted in kindness, humility and hard work.

"I thought everybody actually wanted her to win because she's kind of a short player and on the LPGA, there are so many long hitters, and she's proving to us that you don't have to be real long to win a major," Feng said. "And she's so nice and she's always a very good player. So I wanted her to win."

Martin earned $474,575 — she had $599,760 in career money when she arrived in England.

"Safe to say it's the best week of my life," she said.

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Fighting intensified Monday around the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk as government forces stepped up efforts to disrupt rebel lines and reclaim more territory from the faltering insurgency. One resident said panic was gripping the city.

In the last two weeks, the government has halved the territory held by pro-Russia separatists, who have been forced back into strongholds around the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk. Those two mostly Russian-speaking regions have declared independence from the government in Kiev.

Despite reports of military successes, however, Ukraine's president announced he has more evidence that Russia has directly supported a separatist insurgency against his government that is dragging into its fourth month.

The Defense Ministry said Monday that government troops had retaken several villages around the rebel-controlled city of Luhansk and had reopened a corridor to its civilian airport.

"Due to successful offensives by forces in the Donetsk region, some militants are trying to leave the city," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Rebels, however, insisted their fighting capabilities remain strong.

A spokeswoman for the separatist Luhansk People's Republic told The Associated Press that they destroyed a Ukrainian armed convoy in the village of Heorhiivka, 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of the airport. She says at least three Ukrainian soldiers were killed in that clash.

Government defense officials said their troops have taken control of several areas on the fringe of Luhansk — including Metalist, Oleksandrivsk, Bile and Rozkishne. Those residential areas are north, west and south of the city, suggesting the government's plan to form a security cordon around Luhansk has yielded results.

The leader of the military wing of the insurgency, Igor Girkin, also known by his nom de guerre Strelkov, had over the weekend predicted a bitter fight for Luhansk, a city of 400,000, and estimated that Ukrainian forces had deployed up to 70 tanks in the offensive.

One Luhansk resident, Sergei, who declined to give his last name due to fears of reprisal, told The Associated Press that panic had gripped the city Monday due to reports that Ukrainian paratroopers were intermittently entering the city center and detaining rebel fighters.

Exit points from the city have been blocked and militiamen are confiscating cars and belongings from residents attempting to flee, he said.

The Defense Ministry also said rebels were routinely commandeering cars from civilians in the separatist areas, but it was not immediately possible to confirm those claims.

The government in Kiev has insisted that that the separatists are receiving substantial manpower and military equipment from Russia, a charge Russia has always denied.

"In the last three days, Ukraine's armed forces have been attacked with Russian multiple-rocket launchers," President Petro Poroshenko said Monday at a meeting of his security officials.

Poroshenko also said there's evidence that officers with Russian army have been involved in the hostilities but he did not elaborate.

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