Golf

High sights

Annika Sorenstam likes to keep her goals ambitious. Her latest self-imposed challenge: golf's Grand Slam.

By JOANNE KORTH
Published June 9, 2005

When Annika Sorenstam boldly announced her goal this year was to win the LPGA's four major tournaments, the elusive Grand Slam, she knew precisely what she was inviting.

The questions.

The pressure.

The challenge.

She welcomed it all in her attempt to do what no golfer has done. With the first victory in her pocket, Sorenstam will try to add the second: the LPGA Championship, which begins today at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md.

"There's no secret what my goals are," Sorenstam said at a news conference. "You have to be open about what you want to do. I don't walk around every day saying, "I want to win the Grand Slam.' I know it, and I'm going to try to do the best I can."

Sorenstam, whose assault on the LPGA record book is unceasing, also will try to become the first to win a major three consecutive times. The 34-year-old Swede has tried twice before, but failed to win the 1997 U.S. Women's Open and the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

No one has won the first two majors of the season since Pat Bradley in 1986. That year, Bradley won three of the four, the closest any player has come to the modern slam. Sorenstam, who keeps a close eye on the LPGA record book, hopes to do one better.

"If anybody can do it, I think she can," Hall of Fame member Nancy Lopez said.

She couldn't be more ready.

The Tour's top-ranked player, Sorenstam has won five of the seven tournaments she entered this season, including the year's first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, by eight strokes. She is coming off a four-stroke victory over Juli Inkster at the ShopRite Classic, during which her putter was red-hot.

Sorenstam saw Bulle Rock for the first time this week - the tournament was played the past 11 years at DuPont Country Club in Delaware - and likes it.

"It's a great golf course," said Sorenstam, who has eight major titles, including four of the past nine. "It's quite tough and the rough is very thick. It's a true course for a major championship. You have to have all your game here."

While Sorenstam chases history, everyone else chases her. The biggest question surrounding Sorenstam's slam pursuit: Can she do it? Running a close second: Can anyone stop her?

"She is very intimidating because the players know how great she is," Lopez said. "They always say you don't play against the other player, but you are going to have to. You are going to have to get better than Annika to beat her."

Sorenstam's combination of talent, physical conditioning and mental toughness are hard to beat. Yet, Cristie Kerr, the LPGA Tour's second-ranked player, claims there are players ready to challenge Sorenstam's stranglehold.

Confidence is the key.

"We're not seeing those kinds of players breaking through and winning yet, but we're very close," said Kerr, 27. "I know how many talented people there are out here. We all work very, very hard and we're all ready to challenge her. When that one person beats her head-to-head, people are going to believe, "Hey, I can do this, too."'

Inkster isn't backing down either. After finishing second to Sorenstam on Sunday, Inkster boldly declared the results would be different this week.

"If I keep playing or hitting the ball that way, I'm going to be right up there next week," said Inkster, 44, who has won seven majors, most recently the 2002 U.S. Women's Open by four strokes over Sorenstam. "She's going to have to watch her back. I'll give her this tournament, but I'm taking next week."

Sorenstam is unaware how her LPGA peers feel about her Grand Slam quest. She merely uses such goals as motivation. It's not her fault that after years of dominance, so few challenges remain.

"I haven't had a player come up to me and say, "Yes,' or "No,' or "What are you thinking?' or "You're crazy,"' she said. "These are my personal goals, and this is my way of trying to find ways for me to get better and push myself to go practice every day. If I didn't have lofty goals, who knows what I would be doing today."

[Last modified June 9, 2005, 01:17:24]