Sorenstam Claims Fourth ADT Victory

I have often wondered whether or not Tiger Woods is human or some sort of alien by the way he crushes his competition and lays claim year after year to the number-one spot on the PGA Tour. Even when he struggles Woods finds a way to win just as he did in Japan this weekend.

Now I’m beginning to speculate similar thoughts about Annika Sorenstam.

The men on the PGA tour have said they needed to elevate their game to keep up with Woods. Will the women make the same commitment as their male counterparts next season? Even Paula Creamer, number-two on the Official Money List, will have to try much harder to topple Annika off her perch. The “Pink Panther” is $1 million behind the dominant Swede even after a stellar rookie season.

Not only did Sorenstam take home her tenth trophy of 2005 and a check for $215,000, she has also claimed several other titles including the Rolex Player of the Year award, the Vare Trophy and the distinction of being named the number-one golfer atop the ADT Official Money List. She ended the season just as she started it, with a victory.

“To top this great season off with another win against the best players in the world, it just does not get much better than this. I love it, I really do. This is very, very satisfying,” stated the very pleased Swede.

Sorenstam has now won this particular tournament four times. Her statistics for the year include two major tournaments and ten wins overall. Annika won half of all of the tournaments she participated in this season. Is there anything Annika can’t do and are there any challengers?

Annika said today that she was a bit “worried” as she looked at the leaderboard to find herself all square with Michele Redman at the 15th hole. “I came to 16 knowing I got three really tough holes. I got to do something. My caddy says, make one birdie. You are going to be fine. I rolled in a nice putt on 16 and then played solid the next two.” But that’s Annika. When the chips are down, she understand what she needs to do, puts her “blinders” on and moves forward.

Michele Redman’s bogey-free round was exciting to watch today. The opposite of Annika, Redman refused to look at the scoreboard. “I was just trying to stay in my own game out there. I didn’t look at the board. I had no idea where I was. You know, I knew I was kind of in it, but I knew that this course is so demanding that you can’t really take your focus off the golf course.” Her confidence was high and Redman felt that she “really probably couldn’t hit the ball any better” although confidentially stating that if she made her putt on nine she might have had a chance to win.

Liselotte Neumann’s Saturday round ended with a thud. The double-bogey at the 17th yesterday threw her off her game. Today’s double-bogey at the tenth hole gave her the same queasy feeling. “On No. 9 I missed a 3‑footer to make a bogey there. And then on 10, I hit my second shot; not a very difficult shot. A 7‑iron I hit into the water to the right. I was playing so well, and all of a sudden those two mistakes. At least I’m proud I came back strong and made a couple of birdies and put myself back in contention.”

But Neumann shook it off and birdied the 11th, 14th, and 15th holes. A bad lie at the 18th hole which led to an eventual bogey probably occured because of Liselotte’s aggressiveness throughout the day. “I was trying to play aggressive the whole way around. So I don’t think that I really took any special risks. I feel like I was hitting the ball so well, that I was basically just going forever flag anyway.” Even so Neumann is content with the way she has been playing and had a “fun week” ending her season with her best finish of the year.

Paula Creamer didn’t have much fun this weekend. From the controversy on Thursday surrounding Sorenstam’s tee shot on 18 right down to her poor showing on Sunday, Paula got creamed! She started out with two bogeys on the first two holes and bogeyed two more during her round. Although there were five birdies to even out her score and give her a top-ten finish, the Pink Panther was not in her best form. This is probably one tournament which the rookie would rather forget.

Christina Kim again won over her fans with a 67 today. A single bogey on the eighth hole was her only blip on her card. Six birdies on her round and a comeback from a Friday 74 and a Saturday 76 for another top-ten finish showed that last week’s winner is a force to be reckoned with on the Tour.

Millionaires on Tour
The LPGA set a record for the number of millionaires created in the 2005 season. Of course Sorenstam leads the list with over $2.5 million dollars earned. However there were five other tour players who finished 2005 with over $1 million earned. Obviously Paula Creamer, being just below Sorenstam on the money list, came in with just over $1.5 million. She actually set a record for a rookie season but she already set other records this season including the youngest and fastest player to reach that million dollar mark.

Tied for ninth place at the ADT, Natalie Gulbis’ check for $22,750 edged her over $1 million. Out of 27 events played, Natalie garnered twelve top-ten finishes and accomplished this feat without a single win!

The other three players topping the million-dollar milestone included Cristie Kerr whose 14th place finish this weekend added an additional $16,250 to her coffers, Lorena Ochoa who finished in 26th place out of the 30 golfers here this weekend, and Jeong Jang who tied for ninth place with Gulbis today. Ochoa, Kerr and Sorenstam have all hit this plateau before.

Pos   Player                  Today    Tot    R1    R2    R3    R4
1     Annika Sorenstam          -3      -6    69    70    74    69 
T2    Michele Redman            -4      -4    69    73    74    68 
T2    Soo-Yun Kang              -4      -4    69    77    70    68 
T2    Liselotte Neumann         -2      -4    69    74    71    70 
5     Catriona Matthew          -1      -2    70    75    70    71 
T6    Paula Creamer             -1       E    68    75    74    71 
T6    Lorie Kane                -1       E    72    74    71    71
T6    Hee-Won Han               +1       E    67    74    74    73 
T9    Christina Kim             -5      +1    72    74    76    67 
T9    Natalie Gulbis            -2      +1    75    72    72    70
T9    Jeong Jang                -2      +1    75    70    74    70
T9    Meena Lee                  E      +1    72    71    74    72

Photo Credit: © AP/PTI.