Sorenstam 3-over after nine holes, may miss cut

Published 10:05 am Friday, November 21, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Annika Sorenstam has enjoyed plenty of great rounds at Trump International, a course where she won three times in a four-year span earlier this decade.

If she doesn’t rekindle that magic on the back nine Friday, her storied career could come to an abrupt end.

Sorenstam was 3-over in her first nine holes of the second round of the ADT Championship, with a double bogey on the par-4 second and then a bogey on the par-5 ninth leaving her at 5 over for the tournament — her final LPGA Tour appearance before “stepping away” from competitive golf.

The field gets trimmed to 16 after Friday’s play, meaning Sorenstam has some work remaining just to reach the weekend. As she made the turn late Friday morning, there were 16 players at even par or better.

Sorenstam shot a 2-over par 74 in Thursday’s opening round, good for a tie for 23rd in the 32-woman event, and acknowledged that she was a bit more nervous than usual.

“I was a little nervous. I feel like I’m playing good. I’m excited about the week,” the LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer said Thursday. “But I’m telling you, nothing went my way today.”

The same was holding true on her front side Friday.

She missed a makeable birdie putt on the opening hole, then split the fairway with a long drive on the second. But her approach nestled in long, dew-soaked grass short and right of the green, and her chip advanced the ball only a few feet, leaving her with a 25-footer for par.

Sorenstam wound up needing three putts to finish that hole, then strung together six straight pars before making bogey on the ninth.

She rallied a bit in Thursday’s opening round to stay within reach of the top 16.

Sorenstam went barefoot into the water on the par-3 seventh to salvage a bogey and was 4 over through 10 holes, putting her into what seemed like a precarious spot. But two birdies on the back side stopped the bogey bleeding Thursday.

“I think she wants to win a few more,” said Katherine Hull, who held the first-round lead after a 68. “But I guess time will tell.”

Time will also tell if she’s figured out the ADT’s unique double-cut, erase-the-scores format, which began in 2006. Sorenstam hasn’t played past Friday in either of the first two years of the setup.

The scores are erased after Friday’s play, then get wiped clear again after Saturday’s round, after which only the top eight get invited back Sunday to play for the $1 million winner’s prize.

“You can’t really practice this format. It’s once a year,” said Sorenstam, who announced her plans to leave the game, start a family and tend to her business interests six months ago. “You just have to go out and play your best golf and see where you stand.”

That’s what Hull did Thursday.

One of the LPGA’s hottest players over the last three months, Hull finished one shot better than Ji-Yai Shin and In-Kyung Kim. Three others — Ji Young Oh, Eun-Hee Ji and Na Yeon Choi — were two strokes back.

Oddly, little attention was paid to the top of the leaderboard.

Most of the star power was off the first page.

World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa, the defending champion, was 6 over during one rough eight-hole stretch and finished tied for 26th after a 75.

“A few birdies will help,” Ochoa said. “I can do that.”

Not in the first 10 holes Friday, she didn’t — Ochoa was even for the day and 3 over for the tournament, three shots off what was the projected cut line.

Cristie Kerr, last year’s U.S. Women’s Open champion and a member at Trump International, was tied for 29th — last — after shooting a first-round 78 and also seemed poised to miss the cut. Inbee Park, the reigning U.S. Open winner, withdrew after starting a whopping 13 over through 14 holes on Thursday.

After Thursday’s play, Paula Creamer, who could catch Ochoa for the money title if she wins this week, was tied with Karen Stupples and Christina Kim for seventh place, three shots behind Hull. Seven players, including hometown favorite Morgan Pressel, were four shots back after the opening round.

Sorenstam, set to make her last start in three weeks in the Dubai Ladies Masters, said she wouldn’t change her approach for the second round, even though she knew she had to scramble to make the weekend.

“You just have to be patient, just fairways and greens,” Sorenstam said. “It’s worked in the past for me.”

Yes, but time was running out Friday.