Sorenstam (64) takes charge at LPGA Championship
WILMINGTON, Del. -- Annika Sorenstam didn't make the cut at the Colonial, which is not to say her two days on the PGA Tour were a total loss.
One reason she played against the best in the world was to elevate her game for the major championships on the LPGA Tour.
"So far, so good," she said Friday.
And that's bad news for everyone trying to catch her.
Sorenstam flirted with a record score in a major and settled for a 7-under 64 on a tough DuPont Country Club course to take a two-stroke lead at the LPGA Championship.
"I worked really hard this year to improve certain parts of my game," she said. "That was in preparation for Colonial, but mostly for the majors. So, here I come."
And there she goes.
Hee-Won Han shot a 2-under 69 in the morning and was five strokes clear of Sorenstam. That didn't last very long.
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| Annika Sorenstam is taking aim at winning the LPGA Championship for the first time.(AP) |
She was at 8-under 134.
"I have not had four good rounds on this golf course, and there's no reason for me not to do it," said Sorenstam, who was at 134. "Now I've got to take care of business."
Three times she ran off three consecutive birdies, and afterward she didn't even realize it.
Nor was she aware standing on the 18th tee, already 8 under for her round, that a birdie would give her a 62. No man or woman has ever shot lower than 63 in a major.
Her 4-wood sailed into the right rough, and Sorenstam had to pitch back to the fairway, short of the creek. She reached the front of the green and had a long two-putt for bogey.
That hardly put a damper on the day.
"It was flawless," Sorenstam said. "It's definitely a top-10 performance for me at a major."
Wendy Ward, playing with Sorenstam the first two rounds, rolled in a 40-footer for birdie on No. 16 and another one for par on the final hole for a 69. She was at 137 and gets to play with Sorenstam again Saturday.
Because of heavy rain in the forecast, the starting times have been moved up five hours, and the women will play in threesomes.
Bad weather isn't nearly as daunting as seeing Sorenstam on top of the leaderboard, and clearly on top of her game.
"I watched her play yesterday, and to most people's standards, she played excellent," Ward said. "I know her standards -- she probably played about average. I knew she was going to be hungry today."
Sorenstam showed that early on when she made a 15-foot birdie putt on the second hole. She pumped her fist and flashed a smile to the crowd, as always.
But as Sorenstam walked off the green, she continually clenched her fist and started talking to herself, motivated to get as many birdies as she could.
Whatever she said worked.
She followed with a wedge within 6 feet, a sand wedge to 18 inches. She hit a 7-wood to 6 feet on the par-5 11th and had to settle for a two-putt birdie.
Sorenstam was simply relentless, taking the lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 15th, and adding two more, each one making it tougher and tougher on everyone else.
Natalie Gulbis shot 69, a good day's work at DuPont, and looked over her shoulder at a large white scoreboard that showed Sorenstam pulling away from the field.
"I know she's not going to back off," said Gulbis, who was at 140, six strokes behind.
Han, 24, set a high target for Sorenstam. She played early Friday in mild breezes and was finishing her five-birdie round of 69 about the time Sorenstam was starting.
"Pretty good," Han said about her round. "It's similar to yesterday. I play good driver today and pretty good iron shots."
Han, who started the second round with a one-stroke lead, hit a 7-wood to 5 feet on the 184-yard 13th hole and nearly made an ace with a 6-iron on the par-3 17th. Her 6-iron stopped just 6 inches from the cup, and none of her birdie putts was longer than 8 feet.
With DuPont as tough as ever, her score figured to hold up for the day.
Sorenstam had other ideas.
She had a chance to win the LPGA Championship in 1997 but three-putted for bogey on the final hole -- her par putt was 2 feet -- and missed the playoff by one shot. Sorenstam hasn't come close the last five years, and she arrived this year with renewed motivation.
"I can play this golf course," she said, trying to convince herself of something everyone already knows. "I'm determined to not get in my way."
Divots
- Sorenstam, who will be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame this fall, will have an exhibit devoted to her PGA Tour appearance at the Colonial. It will open to the public June 13 at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., and include the shirt she wore during the first round at Colonial. The exhibit also will have the ball and tee she used for her first shot and official scorecards from both rounds (71-74).
- Meg Mallon holds the course record at Dupont, a 63 in the third round in 1999. Only three other women, along with 18 men, have shot 63 in a major.
- Suzy Whaley, the Connecticut club pro who qualified for the Greater Hartford Open on the PGA Tour, shot an 82 on Friday and finished at 19-over 161.
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