By Stuart Hall

Edina, Minn. – If this is truly three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Annika Sorenstam’s 15th and final appearance, then she was going out on her terms.

Missing the cut would have been an ignominious way for the game’s second-winningest golfer to exit this national stage. And that is where the 37-year-old Sorenstam was headed following Thursday’s opening-round 75.

So on a sometimes drizzly and often-times warm Friday at Interlachen Country Club, Sorenstam

Annika Sorenstam clawed her way back after the possibility of missing the cut loomed. (John Mummert/USGA)

basically said "cut, be damned." She shot a 3-under 70 to climb back into contention at 1-under 145 with 36 holes left in the championship.

"Yeah, I'm excited about playing. I love the course," said Sorenstam, who posted a 3-1-1 record in Europe’s 15.5-12.5 loss to the United States in the 2002 Solheim Cup played here. "I think I'm hitting the ball as good as I can. I'm just, you know, going to work a few things with my putter and I'm really looking forward to the weekend."

Sorenstam made her hay on the five par 5s, playing them in a combined four under. Her first two birdies came at the par-5 second and third holes, both with the tee makers set back for round two, to create a positive mindset. After a bogey at the shortest par-4, the 316-yard seventh, she closed the first nine with a 3 at the par-4 ninth. Her outward 2-under 34 was four shots better than Thursday’s score.

Sorenstam birdied the 503-yard, par-5 10th, this one with the tee markers moved to the penultimate tee. She then bogeyed the par-4 17th for the second straight day and closed with a rousing birdie on the 530-yard, par-5 18^th – resting her second shot to within 7 feet for an eagle attempt.

By that time, Sorenstam was well under the cut margin and moving back into contention. At the midway point of round two, Sorenstam stood five shots behind leader Angela Park, who shot 67 in the morning, and first-round co-leader Ji Young Oh, who had an afternoon starting time.

Sorenstam has played too many U.S. Women’s Opens not to realize that the scores will come trickling back.

"I expect it to happen even more this weekend," she said. "That's what the U.S. Open's are all about. This golf course is set up very well I think and then yesterday a lot of people might say there was lots of red numbers. Well, I think that it will change by the end of Sunday.

"It's just, it's very, very fair, but you have to hit the ball well and there are a lot of tees out there where … there's so many different strategies. I mean, I've hit 4-irons off the tee, I hit 5-irons, I hit 5-woods, 4-wood, driver. I mean that's five different clubs off the tee other than par-3s. I can't think of any other golf course like that. And it's just strategy and it's just there's not a right way to play it, it's just depending how you feel and how you want to approach the greens and with which clubs."

From a statistical standpoint, Sorenstam struck the ball better, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation -- numbers slightly up from Thursday – but again took 33 putts. She has been working with former PGA Championship winner Dave Stockton on her stroke.

"It has to do with tempo, it has to do with the length of my back swing, it just takes awhile to get that," she said. "Playing fast greens like this. More importantly, you stick to your routine, but it also makes it tougher when it's just so tricky out there."

A curling 11-foot birdie putt on the ninth green, Sorenstam said, is what she would like to visualize more of over the final 36 holes. "It's kind of what I'm looking for," she said.

Should Sorenstam move even further up the leaderboard on Saturday, she just may very well have these galleries gathering steam in support of a fourth U.S. Women’s Open title. Not hurting her cause on Friday was her outfit, which was in the maroon and gold colors of the local University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

"Do you think … it’s luck?" she joked. "No. There’s a reason why I’m wearing it."

At the final hole, with fellow competitor Paula Creamer (70-72) walking ahead of her, spectators in the surrounding grandstands gave Sorenstam an adoring and standing ovation.

"You're walking out there and you hear everybody saying, ‘Thanks for the memories,’ ‘Thank you for what you've done,’ and it's true," said Creamer.

Sorenstam hopes she has a few more special moments on the weekend.

"The better you play the more memories you have," she said. "Like I said, the fans make it special, the course makes it special, the U.S. Open makes it special. It's just a wonderful week, really."

She may not know just how wonderful until Sunday night.

Stuart Hall is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on usga.org.