February 16, 2008
LPGA.com

Sorenstam earns 70th LPGA victory at SBS Open at Turtle Bay
Takes early lead in LPGA Playoffs 2008 with 165,000 ADT Points

KAHUKU, Oahu, Hawaii - Annika Sorenstam silenced any doubts that she would be a weekly contender in 2008 with a two-stroke victory at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay.

Sorenstam had been winless on the LPGA Tour since Sept. 3, 2006, when she won the State Farm Classic. However, her first appearance at the SBS Open in Hawaii ended that streak and gave her a long-sought 70th-career LPGA victory and a $165,000 paycheck.

"I could not have asked for a better start," said Sorenstam, who remains third all-time in career victories behind Mickey Wright (82) and Kathy Whitworth (88). "It's very gratifying to see that the preparation I've done paid off and now I really want to put '07 behind and say, ‘Hey, I'm a contender,' and I intend to be that all year."

She started the year off with a 2-under-par 70 and tie for 10th, overcoming a double bogey on the fourth hole of the second round to pull into a tie for the lead with a 67 (-5), 7-under-par 137 overall. Sharing the lead with Erica Blasberg (69-68-74=211, -5), Sorenstam posted a birdie on the third and 10th holes of the third round, followed by a bogey on 11. Heading into the final stretch, she was still atop the leaderboard at 8-under-par, but was alternatively joined by Momoko Ueda, of Japan, who finished tied for fifth with a 71-67-71=209, -7; and Jane Park (70-68-70=208, -8). Laura Diaz (70-68-70=208, -8) and Russy Gulyanamitta (71-69-68=208, -8) hovered near the leaders at 7-under before birdies on 18 pushed them into a tie for second with Park. Around that time, Sorenstam rolled in back-to-back birdies on holes 16 and 17, with her final birdie on 17 being a 24-foot putt.

"It was huge," said Sorenstam, who hit 85 percent of her greens in regulation this week. "It was one of those putts that I'm going to remember for a long time. It's nice to have a one stroke lead going into 18. But to have two especially when it's a par-5, a lot of players had birdies. Coming back like this, it's nice to have a little extra cushion. So that was key."

The runner-up finishes for Gulyanamitta and Park were both career bests for the duo who each own exempt status thanks to strong finishes at the 2007 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, where Park was the overall medalist. Park's performance was buoyed by an 80-foot birdie putt across the 184-yard, par-3, 15th green.

"(My caddy) said, as he was standing there tending the pin, you could see a line going—because my ball was going up over a hill and down the hill. He said right from the top of the hill, he could see the line of where my ball needed to go," Park said. "I saw the exact line you needed to hit it. It was going straight down that line. A good thing was going to happen and I knew it."

Gulyanamitta closed out her first event of the year on a strong note, holing a 48-foot birdie putt on 18. A Tour rookie in 2004, she lost her card after only making two cuts in 15 starts. Now holding exempt status in 2008, Gulyanamitta increased her LPGA career earnings considerably by adding her $75,867 check to the $4,411 she earned in 2004.

Her LPGA big sister from that rookie year, Diaz, rebounded from a double bogey on the par-4 seventh hole for her best showing since a runner-up finish in 2004 at The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions.

"I feel pretty good. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to look back and say, ‘Darn it.' The wrong club, led to a high number," Diaz said. "It's always nice to end the final hole with a birdie. And Lorena (Ochoa) told me something a couple of years ag her father, who I adore, always says to her, 'End like a professional.' So it's something that you think about when you're on that last hole."

A co-leader heading into the final round, Blasberg's 2-over-par 74 on Saturday dropped her to 5-under-par 211, but still managed a career-best tie for eighth and entry into next week's Fields Open in Hawaii.

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