Galloway Township, N.J. – Annika Sorenstam had a two- stroke lead, and her victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic looked like a sure thing. All she had to do was stay out of trouble on No. 18.
Then Sorenstam hit the kind of shot that has made her a star.
After hitting her approach short of the green, Sorenstam hit a 38-foot putt Sunday that rolled up and down and into the cup, giving her a dramatic eagle on the par-5 closing hole for a four-shot win over Juli Inkster.
“Sometimes, I wonder why all these good things are happening to me, but I’ll take it,” Sorenstam said. “I’m not going to question it too much. Obviously, I’m thankful for everything I’ve got.”
The world’s best woman golfer added another title to her résumé, shooting a 7-under-par 64 to win the $1.4 million tournament.
And she did it with a flourish, draining the lengthy putt on the last hole for a 17-under 196 total.
Fending off game challenges by Inkster and Laura Davies, Sorenstam won her fifth tournament in seven outings. But don’t tell her she’s unbeatable.
“I don’t walk around wondering who can beat me,” she said. “I know what I have got to do. I have to play from A to B in as few shots as possible. That’s really my mind-set.”
Sorenstam trailed Inkster after one round, and the two shared the lead after 36 holes.
The Swede overtook Inkster when it counted most, rallying from an unremarkable start with near-flawless iron play and precise putting.
She won the Classic for the third time and claimed the $210,000 winner’s share. Inkster closed with a 68 and was 13-under. Catriona Matthew (64) and Davies (68) were five strokes back at 12-under.
What began as a duel between Sorenstam and fellow Hall of Famer Inkster, quickly included Davies, who shot a tournament- record 62 on Saturday and opened with three straight birdies to take the lead at 12-under.
Sorenstam, who made par on her first three holes, didn’t make any great shots but didn’t make any mistakes early on, either. She stayed out of trouble, taking advantage of her birdie opportunities when Inkster and Davies started to struggle.
Sorenstam made a 28-footer for birdie at No. 9 to take the lead at 12-under, flashing a smile, raising her arms up over her head and waving to the crowd after pulling the ball out of the hole.
But the push was just starting. On the next hole, she sent her second shot over the green, but holed a 21-foot birdie putt from the back fringe to pick up another stroke.
“She doesn’t make any mistakes,” Inkster said. “She’s just very consistent.”
Sorenstam added birdies on Nos. 13 and 17 and then made the eagle putt on the par-5 closing hole to punctuate the win, capping a bogey-free round.
When it dropped, the sun- drenched crowd in the bleachers and skyboxes surrounding the green roared. Sorenstam kissed her putter and raised her hands in triumph. She hugged her caddie and then walked toward playing partner Inkster and stuck out her hands, palms up, as if to say “I can’t help it.”
“I was just steady the whole day and I think that was the key,” Sorenstam said.
It was the sixth consecutive tournament Sorenstam won after leading or sharing the lead heading into the final round.
“I knew I could play some good golf,” she said. “The conditions were perfect. It was warm, there was hardly any wind. It was just turning out to be a perfect, low-scoring day.”
Inkster, a two-time Classic winner, had an outside chance coming into No. 18, two shots back of Sorenstam. But she landed her approach shot in the rough right of the fairway and could only manage par.
