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|
Annika
Sorenstam, of
Sweden
, holds her trophy after winning the Stanford
International golf tournament in a one hole sudden death
playoff on Sunday in
Aventura
,
Fla.
|
AVENTURA, Fla. - At last year's ADT
Championship, when Annika Sorenstam's first winless season since
her rookie campaign came to a disappointing end, she issued what
seemed like a vow.
"I'll be back," Sorenstam
said that day in November.
Her performance this week shows she
might be there.
Sorenstam's par on the first
playoff hole Sunday was good enough to beat Paula Creamer and win
the Stanford International Pro-Am, the Swede's 71st career victory
on the LPGA Tour and one where she rallied from a one-shot deficit
in the final two holes of regulation.
It was Sorenstam's second win of
2008, albeit both in events where Lorena Ochoa — who had won in
each of the last four weeks before deciding to skip this event —
wasn't in the field. Still, Sorenstam left Turnberry Isle on
Sunday night convinced she's heading into the remainder of the
season with a slew of momentum.
"I'm very, very excited with
the way this season has started," Sorenstam said. "I
feel like I've been very consistent. If we go back to the end of
last season, the British Open and on, I've been top 10 every
tournament except two. That's as consistent as when I was at my
peak. I feel good about my game. I would say it's very, very
close. This week, I hit the ball beautifully, I thought."
Creamer wouldn't argue with that.
She closed with a 69, and Sorenstam
shot a 70. They finished at 8 under.
After a wayward 9-iron off the tee
— "a careless shot," she said — followed by a poor
pitch, Creamer made bogey at the par-3 17th to lose the outright
lead with one hole left in regulation. At the par-5 18th, Creamer
pulled her chip from just inside of 100 yards and was left with a
25-foot birdie putt, which stayed out and forced her to settle for
par.
Both laid up at the 18th in the
playoff, with Creamer facing a tricky downhill birdie putt from
just off the fringe, and Sorenstam leaving herself a birdie try
from almost the same spot where she missed a potential winner in
regulation.
Sorenstam missed, but Creamer's
6-foot comebacker for par stopped short and gave the Swede the
victory — her 16th in 22 career playoff appearances.
"It's very
disappointing," Creamer said. "But at the same time, I'm
going against one of the best players in the world ever to play
golf. There's a lot to learn from that."
It was the first time in five weeks
someone other than Lorena Ochoa won on the LPGA Tour. The
top-ranked Ochoa skipped this event.
Young Kim (69) and Karrie Webb, who
turned in the round of the week with a 7-under 64, tied for third,
one shot behind Sorenstam and Creamer. Momeko Ueda (71) finished
alone in fifth at 5 under.
It was Webb's best finish since
placing second at last year's LPGA Championship, 17 events ago.
"It's a good finish for
me," Webb said. "I would have liked to made the one on
the last, but I feel great about things."
Sorenstam has similar sentiments.
And in the playoff, her experience shone through.
A first-time playoff participant,
Creamer said her hands shook grasping her putter.
Sorenstam was the polar opposite,
exuding nothing but coolness and confidence. That was the
difference.
"That's what I love. That's
why I do this," Sorenstam said. "Not to say I want to
have playoffs every week, but it's a lot of drama and you have to
hit that certain shot when it counts."