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Sorenstam closing in on records

There are so many amazing numbers associated with Annika Sorenstam's run to the top of women's golf, it's almost impossible to decide what is most impressive.

Is it the nine victories in 18 LPGA Tour events, a remarkable 50 percent average?

Is it the 17 victories in the past two seasons?

Is it the five-year run that alone would be good enough to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame?

How about this: Sorenstam, with her victory at the Samsung World Championship on Sunday, has 40 wins, which puts her eight behind LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez.

Sorenstam has her sights set on another goal. If she wins the remaining five events on the LPGA schedule, she would break Mickey Wright's record of 13 wins set during the 1963 season.

"Why should you limit yourself?" Sorenstam, 32, said. "When you say, 'It (the record) may never be broken,' then you might start to believe it. I don't believe in those things. It's possible, and that's what keeps me going forward."

Sorenstam is on the best run in women's golf since Lopez won 17 times in 1978-79. After Wright won 13 times in 1963, she followed with 11 wins in 1964. The only players since to get to double-digit victories were Kathy Whitworth and Carol Mann with 10 each in 1968. Sorenstam will try to match that number at this week's LPGA Tournament of Champions in Mobile, Ala.

If she keeps winning, Sorenstam would have a chance to break the record at the season-ending ADT Tour Championship Nov. 21-24 in West Palm Beach.

Wright, who won the last of her 82 tournaments in 1973, lives in Port St. Lucie and rarely gives interviews. But she told the Palm Beach Post this week that she likes Sorenstam's chances.

"I've always said this about Annika: She's got it -- whatever 'it' is," said Wright, who had seven runner-up finishes in addition to her 13 wins in 1963. "I like her golf swing. When she gets confidence in her putting, she's unbeatable. The similarities between her game and mine is her ability to concentrate and not get distracted, to stay in the moment. It sounds so easy, but it's so hard to do."

Sorenstam is making it look easy.

SENIOR SCHEDULING: Don't be surprised if the Senior PGA Tour reduces its schedule by as many as 10 events for the 2003 season. The 50-and-over circuit was looking to cut back on the 36 events scheduled this year and may do so by default. As many as eight tournaments are without title sponsors for next year, and not all of them will make it. One thing is certain, however: The season-opening Florida swing is intact, with events in Key Biscayne, Naples and Tampa next February.

FINAL CHANCES: To have a shot at competing on a reduced Senior PGA Tour schedule, Palm Harbor's Jay Overton is faced with a big two weeks. He is 54th on the money list with $295,203 in 13 events. To have some status next year, he must finish among the top-50 money winners. Heading into this weekend's Napa Valley Championship, Hugh Baiocchi holds the 50th spot with $323,582. So Overton must earn a minimum of $30,000 -- without anyone else moving up -- to crack the top 50. Regardless of the outcome, Overton will attempt to better his position by playing in the qualifying tournament next month at World Woods.

PRIDE OF DUNEDIN: The Buick Scramble is one of the largest amateur golf gatherings in the country, and a team from Dunedin Country Club finished 13th in the net division on Sunday at the Walt Disney World Resort. Led by head pro John Falcone, amateurs Tom Percival, Russ Adams, Rick Giardullo and Lou Michalik shot 58 in the final round of the five-man scramble and tied for 13th in the competition that began with 132 teams.

AROUND GOLF: At age 57, Hale Irwin will become the oldest player to win the senior money title. He has four victories and has finished among the top five in 17 of his 25 events. ... U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Curtis Strange has been given a sponsor's exemption to next week's Walt Disney World Classic, along with 18-year-old Ty Tryon. ... Sergio Garcia has signed an endorsement deal to play TaylorMade clubs and Maxfli balls, switching from Titleist.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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