In the battle between youth and experience Annika Sorenstam prevailed over 15-year old amateur Michelle Wie. This was far from a blow-out as Sorenstam only won by three strokes with a 1-over 73 over the teenager. Starting with a five-stroke advantage, it appeared to be Sorenstam’s tournament but Wie made it difficult on the LPGA’s number one golfer.
As Wie charged through the course making her 18 holes look easy Annika looked a bit sloppy and uncomfortable as time took it’s toll on the 34-year old Sorenstam. Wie challenged the course and came in under par while Sorenstam tired late in the round bogeying three of her final four holes.
In the end however experience prevailed and Annika laid claim to a $270,000 check, a beautiful sterling silver trophy and her second major title of 2005. As Annika said when accepting her trophy at the McDonalds LPGA Championship for the third consecutive year, “I wanted it so badly. It’s a dream come true”.
Sorenstam also added yet another notch to her belt as she became the first LPGA golfer in nineteen years to take home her second major trophy of the year. Well on her way to a “Soren-slam”, Annika has now become the first player since Pat Bradley (1986) to win consecutive majors. Bradley came close to a Grand Slam but tied for fifth at the U.S. Women’s Open, a challenge that Sorenstam will be ready for in two weeks. Bradley won the final major of the year.
Sorenstam’s performance today was anything but exciting. Her par-5 performance on the back nine was amateurish. If it wasn’t for her 5-stroke lead coming into the final round, she might have been beaten by a freshman. Annika had five bogeys in today’s round and a smattering of birdies which kept her in the game.
Even with her substandard round today the ladies appear a bit defeated before they even tee off when the Swede is in the field. Angela Stanford is one player who hears Annika’s footsteps. “There’s nothing we can do to stop her. She’s playing her own game. It’s not like we can play defense or offense. We just have to go out and play our best.”
Although her streak of rounds in the 60’s is now over, Sorenstam won her sixth tournament in eight starts this year. This is her ninth win in a major and her 61st career victory. Her career total tops $17 million dollars. Is there anyone who can defeat Annika?
Hawaiian Michelle Wie has an opportunity to make waves in the LPGA. Out of 150 professional golfers in the field amateur Wie put up the best fight with her closest competitor two strokes behind. Reminder to everyone, Michelle is just fifteen. She’s getting her driver’s license permit and just finished the tenth grade.
Okay, so we realize that the battle today was really for second place. There was never really a doubt that Annika would collapse. That is, until Wie started playing the course like a true professional. With her only bogey coming early on the second, Wie birdied at the 8th, then again with back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 and one more birdie at the 15th. Looking comfortable and confident, Wie challenged the best player in the world and almost won, period. She even took solo second place even though Davies and Creamer tried really hard to play “catch-up”.
Feeling her oats after this second place finish, the “Big Wiesy” has an exemption into the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic next month. It will be interesting to see if Wie can compete against PGA Tour pros and beat them on their own turf. She already proved that she can beat the LPGA’s best players this week.
Tying for third place with long driver Laura Davies was rookie Paula Creamer, who has been on top of the leaderboard regularly since deciding that she was becoming a full-time LPGA tour pro. Creamer is well on her way to receiving the Rolex Rookie of the Year Award after her finish today and possibly joining Team U.S.A. at the Solhem Cup in September, where she will actively compete against Davies, Sorenstam and Team Europe for the top honors.
Even though Natalie Gulbis didn’t play terrific golf today, she still has other projects to look forward to. Her Golf Channel reality series premieres next month and her pin-up calendar is selling briskly. It’s a good idea for Gulbis to take on all projects while her beauty lasts. Although her 2005 earnings puts her at over $300,000, her popularity and fame will skyrocket with the television show making her more successful outside the arena of the LPGA. How many players can you name on the LPGA Tour anyway?
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Annika Sorenstam +1 -11 68 67 69 73 2 *Michelle Wie -3 -8 69 71 71 69 T3 Paula Creamer -5 -6 68 73 74 67 T3 Laura Davies -1 -6 67 70 74 71 T5 Lorena Ochoa E -4 72 72 68 72 T5 Natalie Gulbis +1 -4 67 71 73 73 T7 Mi Hyun Kim -5 -3 69 75 74 67 T7 Pat Hurst -3 -3 72 73 71 69 T7 Gloria Park -1 -3 71 71 72 71 T7 Carin Koch E -3 74 70 69 72 T7 Moira Dunn +2 -3 71 68 72 74 T7 Young Kim +4 -3 73 68 68 76
Photo Credit: © Andy Lyons/Getty Images.
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