GLADSTONE, N.J. — Suzann Pettersen doesn’t have to be satisfied with just playing well anymore.

Some 20 months after capturing an event in Canada, the 30-year-old Norwegian is a winner again.

Pettersen ended nearly two years of lingering frustration and near misses by beating Cristie Kerr 1-up to win the Sybase Match Play Championship on Sunday.

“It’s 20 months, but it doesn’t feel like 20 months,” said Pettersen, who was doused with champagne by Swedish player Anna Nordqvist after winning. “It feels like a lot longer. But like I said yesterday, I had some great tournaments except winning, and I can finally put a dot over the ‘i’, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Pettersen actually had an outstanding year in 2010. She played in 21 events and had 14 top-10 finishes in earning $1.56 million, her second-best year on tour.

Still, there is a line between playing well and winning, and players want the latter.

“It boils down to winning tournaments, so if you judge your season by winning, last year was a disappointment,” Pettersen said. “But at the same time, I tried to take positives from that. It was a lot better than ‘09. (However), winning is what it’s about.”

Pettersen showed how much winning meant to her after she curled in a 15-foot birdie putt to win the title. A second after the ball disappeared into the hole on No. 18 at Hamilton Farm Golf Club, Pettersen thrust both hands skyward in celebration and seemed to exhale in relief.

Pettersen earned this title. She beat Natalie Gulbis, Amy Hung, Stacy Lewis, No. 1-ranked Yani Tseng, No. 5 Na Yeon Choi and the fourth-ranked Kerr for her seventh win on the LPGA Tour.

Pettersen, who overcame the flu in beating Gulbis on Thursday, had to work all the way to the end.

Leading 1-up and with Kerr facing a potential match-extending 10-foot birdie attempt on the par-5 18th, Pettersen rolled in her birdie to seal the victory on a cold, damp, overcast day that probably made her feel as if she was back home.

“It’s a situation you want to be when you love the pressure,” Pettersen said. “There’s nothing better than winning a match play event.”

Pettersen, who beat the top-seeded Choi 4 and 2 in the semifinals Sunday morning, never trailed in the final match for her first win since the Canadian Women’s Open in September 2009.

Kerr, who won the final two holes to beat Angela Stanford 1-up in the semis, had her putter to blame for failing to win for the 15th time on tour. The American missed four putts of less than 10 feet — all for hole victories.

“Putting on the back nine killed me,” Kerr said.

However, she also made a 3-foot par save on No. 16 to keep the match alive and a 10-footer for birdie on the next hole to cut Pettersen’s lead to 1 up.

Pettersen ended the run and the match with her dramatic putt at the magical 18th hole. She played it four times and birdied it every time to win matches. She dispatched Gulbis in the first round, Lewis in the round of 16, Tseng in the quarterfinals and Kerri in the final.

Pettersen earned $375,000, and Kerr made $225,000.