When Annika Sorenstam is at the top of the leaderboard it’s almost a given that she will reign victorious on Sunday. Annika has won her previous five matches where she either led or held a share of the lead going into the final round so it was no surprise that the 34-year old Swede would take control on Sunday. Sorenstam has six top-ten finishes out of the seven events she has played this year and is tied with Hall-of-Famer Betsy King for the most wins in this event.
Annika entered the final round sharing a one-stroke lead with Juli Inkster with only one-stroke separating the co-leaders from Laura Davies. At the end of the day Annika closed the door with an eagle at the 18th to finish with a 7-under par 64.
Sorenstam’s third Shoprite Classic victory gave her a $210,000 paycheck, a beautiful crystal globe and bragging rights.
Although Sorenstam started slowly with three pars, she wound up playing a bogey-free round today with a smattering of birdies. Annika made her move at the ninth dropping a twenty-foot putt to grab the lead. As she pulled the ball out of the hole, Sorenstam waved to the crowd and smiled as if to say “it’s time to finish this”. Fresh off the birdie putt at the ninth, Annika holed her next putt from the back fringe, over 25 feet, to strengthen her resolve. Two more birdies on the 13th and 17th and then the uphill eagle putt at 18 sealed her win.
Annika carded only three bogeys the entire tournament two of which she made on the first day during a torrential downpour.
Juli Inkster scored four birdies today and gave one stroke back on the 6th. Putting errors with several lip-outs caused the 44-year old tour veteran to miss birdie opportunities throughout her round. A three-under par 68 might have been enough of a score to win against any other competitor but she had to shoot for the moon today to stop Sorenstam.
After a record-setting 62 on Saturday, Laura Davies was only one-stroke behind the leaders. By the third hole the brit had rallied past Inkster and Sorenstam with three consecutive birdies. Struggling today with a bogey at the 8th and attempts to save par such as on the par-3 11th cost Davies the game. Even her birdie at the 17th was too little too late.
Jimin Kang who is fresh off her recent win at the Corning Classic scored a record-setting 62 today. With two bogeys early in the round, Kang charged forward with nine birdies and an exciting eagle at the 16th to tie for 7th position with Mi Hyun Kim. Although Kim’s (66) sub-par round consisted of six birdies and a single blip at the 14th she could not climb into a top-five spot on the leaderboard.
Natalie Gulbis (70) picked up another top-ten finish with back-to-back birdies late in the round.
You won’t see Jennifer Rosales’ name listed on the final leaderboard. Rosales withdrew with a wrist injury.
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 1 Annika Sorenstam -7 -17 67 65 64 2 Juli Inkster -3 -13 65 67 68 T3 Catriona Matthew -7 -12 71 66 64 T3 Laura Davies -3 -12 71 62 68 T5 Jeong Jang -6 -8 70 70 65 T5 Pat Hurst -1 -8 71 64 70 T7 Jimin Kang -9 -7 71 73 62 T7 Mi Hyun Kim -5 -7 69 71 66 T9 Joanne Morley -3 -5 73 67 68 T9 Natalie Gulbis -1 -5 71 67 70 T11 Stacy Prammanasudh -4 -4 75 67 67
Photo Credit: © AP.