It's a major accomplishment
Sorenstam claims her second straight LPGA Championship
WILMINGTON, Del. -- Tournament officials had insisted upon a 36-hole finale at the
In a roller-coaster day, Annika Sorenstam nearly proved them wrong and then demonstrated why they were correct. The result was her successful defense of this championship, her seventh major title in a career that has had many great journeys. But none was as wild as this marathon effort at DuPont Country Club that ended with Sorenstam atop the leaderboard at 13-under 271, three shots clear of Shi Hyun Ahn, a 19-year-old Korean who stormed into view courtesy of a closing 66 in just her second major championship. Grace Park, on the strength of 70-68 -- 276 finished third.
"You never take anything for granted in golf. I proved that today," said Sorenstam, who went from near flawless to a near collapse in a 10-hour session made necessary because heavy rain and unplayable course conditions had wiped out any chance of play Friday. Taking a one-shot lead into the day's action, Sorenstam went out and parlayed that into a six-shot cushion, thanks to a scintillating, bogey-free 7-under 64 that pushed her into a record 54-hole score of 14-under 199.
"Just one of those rounds that I'm going to remember forever," said Sorenstam.
She had the chance to render the fourth round meaningless and totally forgettable. Instead, she fell out of character, committed a series of inexplicable gaffes, threw away four shots on three holes, watched her lead evaporate to two, and allowed a handful of players to get into the hunt. Only a spirited late stretch of four birdies in six holes and a miraculous shot over the trees from the wrong fairway at the par-5 16th served to provide her the $240,000 paycheck, a closing 72 hardly artistic, but more than effective.
"I never played with Mickey Wright, but [Sorenstam] is awfully good," said Juli Inkster (70-73 -- 279, T-6), who was paired with Sorenstam for all 36 holes and at one point was one of those with a chance to win. But Sorenstam dug deep, just when everything started to unravel, and because she did, the depth to her achievements got even more impressive. To wit:
She became the second player -- male or female -- to successfully defend a major title on three occasions (the US Women's Open in 1996 and the Kraft Nabisco in 2002 being her others). The legendary Wright did it four times.
It's the ninth time she has successfully defended a title.
It's her fourth win in eight starts this season and the 52d in 218 career starts on the LPGA Tour, a winning percentage of .239 that can only be compared to Tiger Woods's .275 clip.
That there was any drama at all down the stretch was rather surprising, for Sorenstam's morning brilliance had carried over into the afternoon and when she birdied the first hole, she was 15 under and leading by seven. It was still a seven-shot lead after she stiffed a 6-iron to 4 feet at the 192-yard, par-3 eighth and rolled in that birdie.
A romp appeared on, but, "It's never over," said Sorenstam, who showed why during a three-hole stretch.
First, a sand wedge from 95 yards into a pin cut deep at the ninth hole, a shot that went long and led to a double-bogey. Then she drove it wide right at the par-4 10th and made bogey. Then, on a hole she had birdied three straight times, the par-5 11th, Sorenstam came up well short with her sand wedge third shot and made another bogey. She was 10 under and the stunning presence of Ahn was there at 8 under. The unheralded Korean had started the day four shots behind, only to fall nine off the pace as her third-round 69 got blown away by the Swede's 64. But with Sorenstam struggling, Ahn's outgoing 33 and birdie at the 11th had her right in the thick of things, and Inkster, thanks to a birdie at the 11th that pushed her to 7 under, was just three back.
"I'm going to catch up with Annika," Ahn said she told herself, while three groups behind, Sorenstam was talking to her caddie, Terry McNamara.
"I told him, `It's going to be all right,' " said Sorenstam as they walked to the 12th green, looking at a birdie putt of 40 feet that was the result of another indifferent wedge. McNamara looked at her, then nodded. If she believed, then he believed. When she slam-dunked that birdie putt, she raised her putter and clasped her right hand over her heart. "I was relieved, to say the least."
Up ahead, Ahn birdied the 15th and the 16th and roars came down the tree-lined fairways. The young Korean was 10 under, but Sorenstam knew what the noise was all about, so she came in right behind and threw down a birdie at the par-4 14th, then pretty much cemented things with her theatrics at the 16th. Ironic, considering her machine-like precision, but they were set in motion by an errant drive, one that went wide left, through trees, and came out in deep rough on the 11th hole.
Caddie and player agreed on playing down the 11th hole, which Sorenstam handled with a 7-iron back into the short grass. Little did she know the surprise McNamara had for her -- knowledge of a sprinkler head in the 11th fairway from where he could get yardage to the 16th hole. He told her it was 94 yards, hardly a tough shot -- except for the huge set of trees that loomed a mere 40 yards in front of her.
"She's probably the best ball-striker in the world," said McNamara, who often stands with a baseball glove during practice sessions and doesn't have to move to catch shots delivered by Sorenstam with a sand wedge. Oh, the yardage they use in practice is 95 yards, so McNamara leaned toward his player and told her, "Pretend I'm standing by the pin with my mitt."
Visionary that she is, Sorenstam could indeed picture that. Precisionist that she is, Sorenstam pulled it off, ripping her shot up and over the trees to the back of the green, then getting the hard spin on it that sucked it back to 4 feet. Birdie No. 11 on the day was followed by her 12th, a 15-footer at the par-3 17th that put her into a four-shot lead.
Not as big a lead as she had started with, and it shrunk by one when she closed with a bogey, but by then, it was major mission accomplished for Sorenstam. Even with a few unexpected detours.
