go to MSN.com
  autos     money     sports     tech     more    
  MSN home  |  Mail  |  My MSN  | 

Golf roundup Sorenstam on verge of early goodbye

by From wire reports , The Oregonian


add this RSS print
Annika Sorenstam arrived at the first tee of Trump International on Thursday morning, shook a few hands and got a kiss on the cheek from Donald Trump.

Then she turned to the gallery and waved.

Today, unless she moves a bit up the leaderboard, she'll be waving goodbye.

Sorenstam shot a 2-over-par 74 in the opening round of the ADT Championship in West Palm Beach, Fla., good for a tie for 23rd in the 32-woman event, her final LPGA Tour appearance before "stepping away" from competitive Golf. The field gets trimmed to 16 after today's play.

"I was a little nervous," said Sorenstam, 38. "I feel like I'm playing good. I'm excited about the week. But I'm telling you, nothing went my way today."

Indeed, it was not a dominant round for the Swedish woman who once controlled her sport. She went barefoot into the water on the par-3 seventh hole to salvage a bogey and was 4 over through 10 holes. But as she's done so many times throughout her 72-win career, the Hall of Famer rallied.

Sorenstam put together consecutive birdies on the par-4 14th and par-5 15th to stop the bogey bleeding and finished the round six strokes behind Katherine Hull (68).

"I think she wants to win a few more," Hull said. "But I guess time will tell."

The scores are erased after today's play, then get wiped clear again after Saturday's round, after which only the top eight get invited back Sunday to play for the $1 million winner's prize.

Hull, one of the hottest players on the tour during the last three months, was one stroke ahead of Ji-Yai Shin and In-Kyung Kim. Three others --Ji Young Oh, Eun-Hee Ji and Na Yeon Choi --were two strokes off Hull's pace.

World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa, the defending champion, was 6 over in one rough eight-hole stretch and ended the day tied for 26th after a 75.

Still, she was confident of her chances.

"A few birdies will help," Ochoa said. "I can do that."

Paula Creamer, who could catch Ochoa for the money title if she wins this week, was tied with Karen Stupples and Christina Kim for seventh place, three strokes behind Hull.

PGA: John Cook shot a 10-under 62 to take a three-stroke lead over Brad Martin after the first round of the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Cook, 51, one of eight Champions Tour entrants in the tournament that includes players from the four major tours, had 11 birdies and one bogey. He played at Del Monte, one of three Monterey Peninsula courses used in the tournament.

Martin, 39, of Portland, a former assistant pro at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, had a bogey-free 65 on the Del Monte course, where eight of the top-10 first-round scores were posted.

Defending champion Tommy Armour III, one of eight former event titlists in the field, had an opening-round 66, also at Del Monte.

Former PGA Tour players Bubba Dickerson (Del Monte) and Brendon De Jonge (Spyglass Hill) trailed Cook by five strokes. Dickerson and De Jonge both played on the Nationwide Tour in 2008.

Jill McGill and Janice Moodie led seven LPGA entrants, each shooting a 68 at Del Monte.

A Champions Tour player has never won the tournament. Juli Inkster, who edged Mark Brooks in 1990, is the only woman to win the event.

After the 54-hole cut, the top 40 pros and 10 amateur teams will play the final round Sunday at Pebble Beach. The winning pro will earn $60,000.

-- From wire reports

Copyright 2008 The Oregonian All Rights Reserved
 
Terms & Conditions     Privacy
Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Please note by clicking on "add a comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.

 advertisement

FOX SPORTS Golf VIDEO

Hate to be Rude: Caddie Medley
David Feherty and others tell Golfweek's Jeff Rude some of their favorite caddie stories from the PGA tour.
Golfers react to Olympic addition
The game of golf will return to the Olympics beginning in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. Hear golfers from around the world react to the news.

 advertisement

Statistical Information provided by: STATS LLC
© 2009 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved.