AVENTURA, Fla. — Annika Sorenstam made a par on the first playoff hole Sunday, good enough to beat Paula Creamer in the Stanford International Pro-Am.
It was Sorenstam’s 71st career victory on the LPGA Tour, and came after Creamer wasted a great chance down the stretch.
Both laid up at the par-5 18th in the playoff, with Creamer facing a tricky downhill birdie putt from just off the fringe, and Sorenstam leaving herself a birdie try from almost the same spot where she missed the potential winner in regulation.
Sorenstam missed the birdie putt yet again, but Creamer’s 6-foot comebacker for par stopped short and gave the Swede the victory, plus the $300,000 winner’s check.
“I’m very relieved and happy and excited at the same time,” Sorenstam said. “I thought it was a good day today. I thought I played very well and so did Paula. She played excellent. It took 19 holes to separate us. … Fortunately, this time, it was my turn and I’m going to cherish this moment.”
With considerable help from Creamer, Sorenstam (70) erased a one-hole deficit in the final two holes of regulation. They finished at 8 under.
Creamer missed the green at the short par-3 17th, then hit a bad chip and made bogey. On the par-5 18th, Creamer (69) hit driver off the tee, but elected to lay up anyway and hit a poor pitch from just inside of 100 yards, eventually settling for par.
Sorenstam nearly ended it right there.
But she barely missed a birdie putt that would have won it on the 72nd hole, and Creamer exhaled for what seemed like several seconds, knowing she’d just gotten a second chance. She just couldn’t do anything with it, though, and Sorenstam won for the 16th time in 22 playoff appearances.
“It’s very disappointing,” said Creamer, who was in her first playoff as a pro. “But at the same time, I’m going against one of the best players in the world ever to play golf. There’s a lot to learn from that.”
It was the first time in five weeks someone other than Lorena Ochoa won on the LPGA Tour. The world No. 1 skipped this event.
Young Kim (69) and Karrie Webb, who turned in the round of the week with a 7-under 64, tied for third, one shot behind Sorenstam and Creamer. Momeko Ueda (71) finished alone in fifth at 5 under.
It was Webb’s best finish since placing second at last year’s LPGA Championship, 17 events ago.
“It’s a good finish for me,” Webb said. “I would have liked to made the one on the last, but I feel great about things. As much as I’ve been down on myself, I knew that if I could get my putter going, it just sort of goes to the rest of your game. I know my swing’s been close, but when you feel like you can’t make putts, you can’t go at pins. It’s a good start. Hopefully there’s more to come.”
Webb’s charge started early, with five consecutive birdies on holes 2-6 vaulting her into serious contention. Lindsey Wright was 6 under for the day through 12, but that wasn’t enough nearly enough to close the gap. Young Kim had consecutive double-bogeys late on her front side, which proved quite costly.
By late afternoon, it was a two-woman race.
Creamer made two birdies in her first three holes to take the lead by one, until Sorenstam answered with a birdie at the sixth — ending a run of 26 pars in a stretch of 29 holes. Creamer blinked on the next hole, hitting one into a hazard and needing to remove her right shoe before splashing the ball out on the way to a bogey.
One hole later, Creamer rebounded with a birdie, tying Sorenstam again at 8 under.
They were both 9 under when Sorenstam pushed a 4-foot par try wide at the 13th, the mistake putting Creamer again alone in front. She stayed there until the bogey at 17 — “a careless shot,” Creamer called her wayward 9-iron off the tee — and that set up the nailbiter of a finish.
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