Ho hum. Annika Sorenstam wins another tournament. It’s become old news, as we said two days ago when she built a one-shot lead after the second round of play. After Cristie Kerr forced a playoff with a 4-under 68, Annika bogeyed the first hole of sudden death to beat Kerr’s double bogey from a splashed-down approach.
Sorenstam made it interesting, yanking her own 7-iron approach into the spectators, but two-putted from eight feet for the win. “It wasn’t as pretty as the previous holes,” Sorenstam said. “A win is a win. By the end of the day, the trophy is in my hand. I’m happy.”
The victory marks Sorenstam’s 56th career win and into fifth all time. She’s now also the first three-time winner of the LPGA’s season-ending championship.
Kerr, who’d made only three bogeys all week and none in the last 44 holes of the tournament, pulled her drive to the left side of the right-cape 18th in the playoff, leaving 188 yards to the hole. Annika, from nearly the same position as regulation, had 155. Kerr attempted to hit a 7-wood from the sidehill lie and pushed the shot into the water. She nearly chipped in for bogey with Annika eight feet away for par, but the ball slid just left of the cup.
“I played my heart out,” Kerr said. “I’m a little disappointed, but not a whole lot, because I did all I could do and I was faced with a really tough shot. It wasn’t meant to be.” The $215,000 first-place money was not to be either, going to Sorenstam for the eighth time this year on the LPGA Tour and the tenth time worldwide.
Kerr had a chance, narrowly missing birdies from 20 feet on 17 and 18. Sorenstam holed her own crucial six-footer for par on 17 after pulling a 7-iron long and left, narrowly avoiding the water behind the green.
Karrie Webb and Carin Koch each shot 69 and finished third at 280. Jennifer Rosales, who played in the final twosome with Sorenstam, double-bogeyed #9 to knock her out of contention. Grace Park shot a final-round 75 to finish 15th at 2-over 290, winning the Vare Trophy for the lowest season scoring average. Lorena Ochoa couldn’t edge Park in the end. Sorenstam would have won the trophy, but did not have enough rounds (70) to qualify.
My favorite gal, Laura Diaz, played respectably, finishing sixth at 2-under 282, seven strokes back. The top nine look as follows:
T1 Annika Sorenstam -13 66 68 72 69 275 T1 Cristie Kerr -13 67 70 70 68 275 T3 Karrie Webb -8 68 69 74 69 280 T3 Carin Koch -8 73 67 71 69 280 5 Jennifer Rosales -7 70 68 69 74 281 6 Laura Diaz -6 69 68 75 70 282 T7 Meg Mallon -4 74 66 73 71 284 T7 Rachel Teske -4 70 69 72 73 284 T9 Juli Inkster -1 74 74 70 69 287 T9 Jeong Jang -1 68 72 75 72 287
The LPGA picks up next season in February. And Donald Trump has a large ass.
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