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Saturday, February 10, 2001
Sorenstam KEAUHOU, Hawaii -- Enough playing housewife for Annika Sorenstam.
skips ahead
She's up by two strokes on
Karrie Webb going into today's
final round on the Big IslandBy Bill Kwon
Star-BulletinNow it's time to make some bread, not bake it.
After her last competitive tournament in mid-December, she didn't touch her clubs for a month. She went skiing, relaxed and and stayed at her Lake Tahoe home. Then she took all of January off, intentionally skipping the first three LPGA tournaments of the year in order to get mentally recharged.
"This is a good place to start the season," Sorenstam said. And she's proving it, shooting a 5-under 67 for a 36-hole total of 137 to take a two-stroke lead going into today's final round of the LPGA Takefuji Classic.
Not that she didn't do a thing while her LPGA Tour peers were trying to get a jump start on the 2001 money list.
"I hadn't competed, but I practiced a lot. I hit a lot of drives and worked hard on my game. I get things done when I'm at home. When you're playing tournaments week-in and week-out, you have a tendency to fall into bad habits. "
Working with her new driver is certainly paying off. She missed only one fairway in the first two rounds and hit 17 of 18 greens yesterday for a bogey-free round at the vogged-in but rain-free Kona Country Club.
"I'm very happy with the way I played today. Yesterday, too," said Sorenstam, who also led going into the last day here last year before losing to Karrie Webb in a sudden-death playoff.
Yes, Sorenstam again has to look over her shoulder at Webb, who's tied for second, two shots behind. Not that you can blame Sorenstam. Webb won 10 of her 23 tournaments coming from behind.
Perhaps by design, Sorenstam has erased the memory of last year's playoff loss.
"No, to be honest. I have quite a bad memory of certain things. I remember I was leading, that's all," Sorenstam said.
"I know I'm happy with how I'm playing now. I just want to continue what I did today.
"For the first week, I couldn't have asked to feel better about my game."
So much so that Sorenstam wasn't disappointed that she didn't birdie any of the par-5 holes yesterday.
"I look at the overall score. I'm happy with 5-under," said Sorenstam, adding that it wasn't their length that posed a problem but the tricky greens and severe pin placements.
"Eighteen was extremely difficult," she said.
Tell Webb about it. She got on in two at the 457-yard finishing hole and three-putted for par from 40 feet after facing a slippery left-to right-break.
"You definitely have to be on the correct side of the hole at these greens here," said Webb, the LPGA's Player of the Year for the past two years.
"If you're on the wrong side of the hole, you're going to need an artist's touch to get anywhere near it," added Cristie Kerr, whose 69 gave her a 139 total along with Webb, A.J. Eathorne and Lorie Kane.
Winless in her first three starts this year, Webb feels her game is good enough.
"I'm putting well and hitting the ball well. I just seem to be throwing one bad swing in there and making bogey. Like on the first hole, I had 80 yards to the pin and made bogey. You just shouldn't do that," Webb said.
Both Eathorne and Kane, who won three times last year since joining the tour in 1996, feel good about their position.
"I'm very happy. I've had some tough rounds at the beginning of the season," said Eathorne, who missed the cut in the inaugural tournament here last year. "I think I was just in awe of being in Hawaii."
Two of Kane's victories came after playoffs, so she wouldn't mind being in one today.
"Absolutely. I'd love it," said Kane, who's also from Canada.
Sherri Turner, whose last tour victory was in the 1989 Hawaiian Ladies Open at the Turtle Bay Resort, continued to hang around with the leaders, shooting a 69 for a 140 total.
Also at 140 were Pat Hurst, Wendy Ward, 2000 Rookie of the Year Dorothy Delasin and Sophie Gustafson.
It wasn't Sophie's choice to be that far back. She briefly joined Sorenstam at 7-under before bogeying three of her final seven holes.
Emilee Klein, tied for second with Gustafson and Scranton after a bogey-free first round, had three bogeys yesterday in posting a 73 and was at 141 with Scranton and four others.
Maria Hjorth, whose 67 led the opening round, shot a 3-over 75 and is at 142.
Seventy-one players survived the 36-hole cut at 4-over 148.
Missing by one stroke were former University of Hawaii golfer Cindy Flom and Hall of Famer Patty Sheehan.
Other casualties included another Hall of Famer, Betsy King, defending champion of the Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open next week at Kapolei, and veteran Jan Stephenson.