STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. - Annika Sorenstam decided it was time to get mad.
She found herself in a very unfamiliar position after two straight bogeys pushed her score above par - gasp! - late in the opening round of the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.
"I got a little fired up at myself," said Sorenstam, who came into the tournament having broken par in 10 of 11 rounds this year.
Make it 11 of 12.
Sorenstam rallied with birdies on her last two holes Thursday, finishing with 1-under 71 that put her in contention for her third LPGA win of the young season.
Christina Kim, a winless, second-year LPGA pro, was the surprise leader after shooting 65 at Eagles Landing Country Club south of Atlanta.
Grace Park, who won the first major of the year at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, was one stroke back. Cristie Kerr, Lorie Kane and Becky Morgan were grouped at 67, and defending Chick-fil-A champion Se Ri Pak lurked at 68.
But, as usual, all eyes were on Sorenstam, coming back from a three-week break after winning two of her first three LPGA events in 2004.
She got off to a strong start at the tournament she won in 2001, making birdies at Nos. 6 and 7 despite swirling winds that created plenty of indecision when reaching into the bag.
Sorenstam slowed with bogey at No. 9, and her score crept above par when she bogeyed 14 and 15 in similar fashion. Both times she knocked her second shot into a bunker - the only greens she missed all day - and couldn't get up-and-down.
"It seems like I've got to work on my bunker shots," Sorenstam said, managing a weak smile.
She didn't need to on the last two holes. A 7-iron shot at 17 snuggled within 4 feet of the hole, setting up an easy birdie. At the par-5 18th, Sorenstam knocked her second shot through the green, then played an imaginative chip across the fringe that curled toward the flag for another short birdie putt.
Leader Kim, 20, has never finished higher than fourth and missed the cut two weeks ago in Las Vegas. But some exquisite iron play - only one of her nine birdie putts was longer than 15 feet - left the brightly attired Californian atop the leaderboard.
PGA TOUR: Gene Sauers and Paul Azinger - who between them have just two victories over the last decade - shared the clubhouse lead in the rain-delayed first round of the $5.1-million HP Classic at New Orleans.
They had 6-under 66s before rain swept into the area, suspending play for almost 31/2 hours. Play resumed at 5:30 p.m., but 75 players were unable to finish before play was called again because of darkness.
The players were to return to complete the first round at 7 a.m. today. The second round was scheduled to begin at 8:15.
Forecasters predicted a 50 percent chance of rain for this afternoon.
Robert Damron was 6 under with one hole to play, and Chris DiMarco was minus-6 though 14.
Defending champion Steve Flesch was 5 under through 14 holes and Phil Mickleson, making his first start since winning the Masters, was 4 under after 14 holes.
EUROPEAN PGA TOUR: England's Mark Roe eagled the last hole to get to 8-under 64 and grab a share of the lead with Gregory Havret of France after the first round of the Italian Open at Milan. New Zealand's Michael Campbell and Sweden's Christopher Hanell were another shot back.
