‘Hungry’ Sorenstam Takes Control,
Leads By Two Strokes

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Annika Sorenstam follows through on a putt Saturday. (Pam Murphy/USGA)

Hutchinson, Kan. – When Annika Sorenstam last won the Women’s Open in 1996, she never dreamed it would take her six years to contend again.

"Tomorrow is the day I’ve been thinking about for a long time," said Sorenstam, who shot a 1-under 69 Saturday at Prairie Dunes for a 2-under 208 total. "The Open is always on my mind."

Sorenstam leads Juli Inkster and Jill McGill by two strokes with one round to go. Inkster and McGill were even par 210 after they bogeyed the 18^th hole. For the round, Inkster shot 1 over and McGill 1 under.

Shani Waugh remained within sniffing distance, three strokes back, shooting a 1-over 71 to card a 1-over 211 for the championship.

"A hard five, a hard five, that’s all I can say," said Inkster, minutes after missing a 7-footer on the 18^th that led to the bogey. "I fell in love with the line and forgot to hit the putt."

McGill, a former Women’s Amateur Public Links and Women’s Amateur champion, suffered a similar fate. She chipped from an awkward angle, near a bunker, to get her ball within 3 feet and a par. Instead, she missed.

"I just wanted to make the putt, but unfortunately, I moved on it a little bit," said McGill.

With three players leading coming into Saturday’s round, Sorenstam broke the logjam with three birdies and 13 pars. More impressive, she nailed 92.9 percent of her fairways and 83.3 percent of the greens in regulation.

Playing in the second group with Waugh, Sorenstam didn’t miss a fairway on the front nine. She posted a 33 making the turn in part to birdies on the 405-yard par-4 fifth hole and on the 512-yard par-5 7^th.

Inkster, playing in the last group with Laura Diaz, was a model of consistency through the first six holes. She parred each one. Diaz toppled off the leaderboard with a 7-over 77.

On No. 7, Inkster stuck a 250-yard approach within 4 feet of the flagstick and cleaned up for her first of two birdies. That dropped her to 2 under, until failing to get up and down two holes later, for a bogey.

At that moment, Sorenstam opened up a two-stroke lead.

McGill closed to within one on the 160-yard par-3 10^th, an unforgiving hole if the ball doesn’t clear brush on the way up. While the gallery was scrambling from a wayward snake, an unsuspecting McGill was busy lofting a 143-yarder off the tee. She drained the downhill putt for the final of her three birdies.

In the meantime, Inkster took another bogey on No. 12, seemingly losing momentum. But on the 14^th, a par-4 dogleg left that features an elevated green, she relied on an accurate chipping game – her biggest strength – to set up an 18-foot birdie putt. When the ball dropped in the hole, Inkster pumped her right arm and screamed.

In order for Inkster or anyone else to catch Sorenstam, a final round under par is an absolute.

"I definitely have to play better tomorrow, because Annika is not going to make any mistakes," she said.

Said Waugh: "I’m playing well enough to shoot a low score like I did the first day

Shani Waugh shot a 1-over 71 and stood three strokes off the lead. (Pam Murphy/USGA)

– 3 under – if that’s good enough. I don’t think it will be."

One of Sorenstam’s few mistakes came on the 363-yard 12^th that has bumpy greens. Hitting 4-iron off the tee, as she’s done in every round on the hole, Sorenstam layed up short with a sand wedge. Setting up a 50-yard chip at the front-centered flag, Sorenstam needed to sink a 22-footer over three ridges to save par. She couldn’t.

As she made walked off the green, she heaved her ball into a thicket. It was the second bogey she took at the hole through three rounds.

"It’s a tough pin placement," said Sorenstam. "It’s sitting right on the ridge."

Sorenstam dipped to 1 under when she bogeyed No. 14, another hole she has bogeyed twice during the championship. Again, she clubbed a 4-iron off the tee, used a sand wedge to get on in two and stared over a long putt, this one from 45 feet.

Tapping it to 3 feet, she yanked the par offering.

Walking to No. 15, Sorenstam, holding an umbrella to block out the sun, could be heard asking her caddie whether it was getting warmer. Indeed it was, as the heat index topped out at 110 degrees.

Two holes later she got even hotter, gaining a stroke back with a 10-footer for birdie. In a rare display of emotion, Sorenstam cocked her right arm upward.

On Sunday, McGill will be paired with Sorenstam. It will be the first time McGill has been in the final grouping in a Women’s Open, or in the final round as a professional. She credited seeing a sports psychologist with helping her handle adversity.

In eight previous Opens, the 30-year-old McGill made half her cuts. Her best finish was a tie for 19^th last year.

Asked how she’ll handle Sunday with the 31-year-old Sorenstam, she said: "You take a lot of deep breaths out there. … I’m not focusing on how Annika plays and what she does. Everybody knows she’s good and consistent. She’s machine-like."

Focus in check, Sorenstam is right where she wants to be.

When she won the Open in 1995 at Broadmoor Golf Club, she headed into the final round fourth and fired a final round 68 to beat Meg Mallon by two strokes. In 1996, at Pine Needles she led going into the final day, shot a 66 and won by eight strokes.

However, she stayed immersed in Open purgatory the last five years. She missed the cut after winning in 1996, tied for 41^st in 1998, missed the cut in 1999, tied for ninth in 2000 and tied for 16^th last year.

"I’m very hungry," said Sorenstam. "Last time I won this championship was in ’96. That feels just like ages ago."

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him at kklavon@usga.org.