Golf

Sorenstam not too upset at two back

She shoots a final round of 4-under-par 67, but it isn't enough this time around.

By BOB HARIG
Published July 5, 2004

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Annika Sorenstam has faced just about every conceivable situation in a Hall of Fame career that has seen her win 52 times, capture seven major championships and play with the men in the PGA Tour's Colonial tournament last year.

Sitting three strokes out of the lead going into the final round of the U.S. Women's Open, Sorenstam figured something under par would put her in pretty good position. After all, she was chasing unproven 25-year-old Jennifer Rosales, and she was tied with veterans Meg Mallon and Kelly Robbins.

So Sorenstam went out, shot 4-under-par 67 at the Orchards Golf Club, including birdies at the last two holes.

And what happened?

She got beat by two.

Mallon did even better, shooting the lowest round by a winner in the history of the U.S. Women's Open.

Which makes it a bit easier to take, Sorenstam said.

"I'm disappointed, but I can get over it, because I played so well and I gave it all," said Sorenstam, who won U.S. Women's Opens in 1995 and 1996. "You've got to give all the credit to Meg, she played so well, and to shoot 6 under on Sunday at the U.S. Open, it doesn't get much better than that. I'm proud with 4 under; it just wasn't enough this year."

Sorenstam, who earned $335,000, was a slow starter, which led to her second-place finish. She bogeyed the first hole to fall five strokes behind Rosales and one behind Mallon and didn't make her first birdie until the seventh hole. She turned in even-par and was three strokes behind Mallon.

Birdies at the 10th and 13th holes only kept pace with Mallon, who made birdies at the ninth, 11th and 12th. And birdies at the 17th and 18th only served to make Mallon's finish a bit more nervous.

"That's the kind of golf she's playing right now," Mallon said. "So to have her be the one to finish second is even that much more gratifying. The fact that you beat the best player in the world. It doesn't happen very often."

Sorenstam hit 17 greens in regulation Sunday, including every one on the front side. But she couldn't get enough putts to drop.

"I hit some really good putts all week, but sometimes they went in, sometimes they didn't," Sorenstam said. "They did on the last two, and it kind of kept my spirits up a little bit. Because I felt I played well all week."

[Last modified July 4, 2004, 23:47:25]