WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Annika Sorenstam is on her way back, and a performance that harkened memories of her game before an injury-filled 2007 season suggests she’s close.
“That’s the way I used to play,” Sorenstam said Sunday after hitting every fairway and almost every green in a 5-under-par 66 that made her the runaway winner of the Michelob Ultra Open with a tournament-record 19-under 265. She beat four others by a record-tying seven strokes.
Two of them — Jeong Jang and Christina Kim — played with her in the final threesome.
“She hit a perfect iron shot every single hole,” Jang said. “Annika’s back.”
“It’s good to see that she is where she was when she was No. 1,” added Kim, who tied with Jang, Allison Fouch and Karen Stupples for second place. “It’s just — flawless is the best way to put it.”
Sorenstam had five birdies on the back nine, including three in a row, before a bogey on the final hole.
“That’s about as good as I can hit my iron shots,” she said. “Make a few more putts and get some distance on my drives and I’m going to tell you that’s as good as I can play.”
The victory was the Swede’s third in eight events this season, and in the process she also answered the doubters who said she could no longer play with new No. 1 Lorena Ochoa.
The eight-time player of the year pulled away from Ochoa on Saturday, using her typical steadiness for a 2-under 69, then did the same to Jang on Sunday, leaving no doubt that her injuries are behind her.
Otto wins by one
MILAN, Italy — Hennie Otto won his first European Tour title by shooting a 3-under 69 to hold off Oliver Wilson by one stroke at the Italian Open.
The South African finished at 25-under 263.
The Associated Press
