KAHUKU, Hawaii — Annika Sorenstam waited 17 months to receive a bottle of wine from a friend with No. 70 proudly displayed on it.
“It’s probably dusty,” she said. “I’m ready to collect it now.”
Sorenstam won the season-opening SBS Open for her 70th LPGA Tour title and first since September 2006, birdieing two of the last three holes Saturday for a 3-under-par 69 and two-stroke victory.
“It’s great to win tournaments, and there’s some tournaments that mean a little bit more and they come in a special time, and I would say this is one of them,” she said.
The 37-year-old Swedish star, coming off an injury-shortened season in which she failed to win for the first time since her rookie season in 1994, finished with a 10-under 206 total.
“We’ve talked so much about ’07; it’s time to talk about ’08,” Sorenstam said. “My clubs did the talking this week.”
Rookie Russy Gulyanamitta (68), Laura Diaz (70) and Jane Park (70) tied for second. Angela Park (69), the 2007 rookie of the year who was assessed a two-stroke penalty, and Japanese rookie Momoko Ueda (71) tied for fifth, three strokes back.
Sorenstam dropped to a knee and shook her fist as she calmly sank a 24-foot downhill putt on the par-4 17th that ended any suspense.
“That was huge,” said Sorenstam, who has won 47 times when holding the lead going into the final round. “That’s one of those putts I’m going to remember for a long time.”
Sorenstam was limited to 13 events last year because of neck and back injuries and had six top-10s finishes, but couldn’t add to her trophy collection.
