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'More than a miracle' Sorenstam rallies for record-tying 4th win in a row
Updated: Sunday April 15, 2001 9:04 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Annika Sorenstam moved into Tiger Woods territory with the unlikeliest of comebacks. The Swede overcame an LPGA record 10-stroke deficit Saturday and won a playoff in The Office Depot for her record-tying fourth consecutive tour title. "I asked for a miracle and it came," she said. "I'm very thankful." Sorenstam took advantage of Pat Hurst's back-nine collapse and then parred the 155-yard 18th on the first playoff hole with South Korea's Mi Hyun Kim. "Wow! It's unbelievable," said Sorenstam, who became the first woman to shoot 59 in a victory last month. "I don't know what I've done to deserve all this. It's got to be destiny." Sorenstam's comeback was the biggest in LPGA history, bettering the eight shots Muffin Spencer-Devlin erased to win the 1985 MasterCard International Pro-Am. The Swede earned $120,000, and overtook Betsy King as the LPGA's career money leader with $6,957,044. King, who tied for 25th and earned $7,205, is second with $6,847,284. "That's great," Sorenstam said. "I just wonder where all the money went." Sorenstam shot a 6-under 66 and Kim had a course-record 65 playing five groups in front of Hurst, who led the first two rounds. Sorenstam and Kim finished regulation at 6-under 210. In the playoff, Kim's tee shot sailed over a back bunker and had played three shots when Sorenstam won with a par. Hurst, trying to become the first American-born winner on the tour this year, was 11 under through eight holes and had an eight-shot lead over Sorenstam. But she fell apart with bogeys on Nos. 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18. Hurst three-putted from 5 feet on the 16th. The bogey on 17 dropped her into a three-way tie for the lead. Hurst had a final chance to win outright on 18, but her tee shot landed in the middle front bunker. She got on the green with her second shot, but faced a 15-foot par putt to get into the playoff. She missed and finished with a 77 for a 211 total and third place. "It's awful," she said. "You can't do that and win a golf tournament." Sorenstam joined Hall of Famers Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright as the only players to win four consecutively scheduled tournaments. Her other wins came in Tucson, Ariz., and Phoenix, where she shot 59, and Rancho Mirage, Calif., at the Nabisco Championship. "I think about those things, but it's tough being out here just trying to win tournaments," Sorenstam said. "I tried not to build it up too much for myself. But if you had asked me if it would end this way, it would have been tough to believe." The LPGA record of five is held by Nancy Lopez, who won three in a row, took a week off and won two more in 1978. Sorenstam will try to tie that mark next week in Sacramento. Sorenstam began the final round 10 shots behind Hurst, while Kim was 11 back. The Swede got going quickly, with three birdies on the front nine, including a 35-footer at the 185-yard 4th. She added birdies at 10, 12 and 16, but bogeyed the 17th when her 7-iron tee shot went over the green. She chipped within 2 feet and dropped a shot. At 18, Sorenstam hit a 7-iron within 12 feet, sank the birdie putt and then waited 45 minutes for the playoff to begin. "Last year, I would not have made that putt on 18 in regulation, and this year I made it," she said. "It's just being confident with my putter. I've practiced a lot."
Divots: Sorenstam also broke Karrie Webb's record for fastest
player to reach $700,000 in season earnings. Sorenstam leads the
tour with $756,448 in six events. Webb took the week off and is
second with $325,520 in seven starts. ... In 50 previous seasons,
the LPGA hadn't gone more than three tourneys without an
American-born winner. Foreigners have won all nine events so far
this year. ... Low attendance plagued the tournament in its first
visit to Wilshire. "The crowd is not really out there, so it can
be tough to get any kind of momentum going," Hurst said. ... A
lack of volunteers meant there were no standard bearers
accompanying the golfers until Saturday, which made it tough for
spectators to follow the scoring. ... Michele Redman finished
fourth at 4-under 212. ... Defending champion Grace Park had a 75
and finished at 8-over 224. ... Swede Liselotte Neumann, who came
into the day three shots behind Hurst, soared to a 76 and wound up
tied for fifth at 3-under 213.
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