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Sorenstam wins from ten back

Annika Sorenstam parred the first extra hole Saturday to defeat Mi Hyun Kim and capture her fourth straight title of the season at The Office Depot. The victory was the 27th of her career and tied the record for consecutive wins in scheduled events on the LPGA Tour.

Sorenstam also completed the biggest comeback in LPGA history, overcoming a 10-stroke deficit at the start of the final round. She fired a 66 to finish regulation at six-under-par 210 with Kim, who came from 11 shots back to earn a berth in the playoff with the tournament-low round of seven-under 65.

"I just can't believe it," said Sorenstam in the press conference. "I was sitting here maybe an hour ago and somebody asked me if I thought I had a chance, and I said I did. But in the back of my mind, I was thinking it was only a slim chance. Wow, it's unbelievable."

Sorenstam and Kim were given the opportunity to decide the tournament in extra holes by Pat Hurst, who squandered a six-shot lead with 10 holes to play to finish alone in third at five-under 211. Hurst had a chance to make the playoff but failed to get up and down out of a bunker at the par-three 18th, posting her third straight bogey to close with a 77.

Hurst, who carded back-to-back 67s for a three-shot lead through two rounds, was bidding to become the first American-born player to win on the LPGA Tour this season.

"It's awful, nobody wants this," said Hurst, who had the halfway lead at the Nabisco Championship before falling back with a pair of 74s on the weekend. "I didn't think I was out of it until the last putt. I hit it left all day, and it was tough to make birdies. I made par a lot today from the crap."

While Kim's tee shot missed the green at the 155-yard 18th in sudden death, Sorenstam managed to knock a seven-iron to within 15 feet of the pin. Kim popped up her second shot from the rough and needed another chip to reach the putting surface, leaving the $120,000 first prize for Sorenstam, who two-putted for her winning par.

Sorenstam displaced Betsy King atop the LPGA's career money list with total earnings of $6,957,044.

Sorenstam became the first woman golfer in 32 years to come out on top in four consecutive events. Mickey Wright achieved the feat in both 1962 and '63, while her fellow Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth reeled off four straight triumphs in 1969.

"I have felt very calm this week, and I think that's from having two weeks off," said the 30-year-old Swede. "I definitely knew there was a record to [tie] this week."

She can break the record with a fifth straight win next week at the Longs Drugs Challenge. Although Nancy Lopez won five consecutive starts as a rookie in 1978, she skipped an event between her third and fourth victories.

The previous record for largest come-from-behind victory was held by Muffin Spencer-Devlin, who came from eight strokes down in the final round to win the 1985 MasterCard International.

Sorenstam's amazing run began with a commanding six-shot victory at the Welch's/Circle K Championship after starting the season with back-to-back second-place finishes. She recorded her second win with a record-breaking performance at the Standard Register PING, where she became the first woman golfer to shoot a 59 during competition. She finished the tournament at 27-under to set a new LPGA mark for the most strokes under par in a 72-hole event. Sorenstam was able to follow that up with the third major title of her career at the Nabisco Championship.

Sorenstam, who felt she cost herself the tournament when she made one bogey and 17 pars on her way to a second-round 73 on Friday, birdied three of the first six holes Saturday, including the fourth with a putt from 35 feet.

She continued to climb the leaderboard with birdies at 10, 12 and 16, but dropped a shot at the 17th after sending her approach over the green. After her tee shot to 12 feet at the final hole of regulation set up her seventh birdie of the day, Sorenstam went to the clubhouse to grab lunch and watch the rest of the final round on television.

Hurst was one-under for the day and 11-under for the championship after a 10-foot birdie putt at the sixth. However, she made three bogeys in a row from the ninth, cutting her lead to two shots over the already finished Sorenstam and Kim.

It looked as if Hurst might hang on to win after she settled down with four straight pars. But at 16, Hurst missed a golden opportunity when she rolled her seven-foot birdie try two feet beyond the cup. Things only got worse when she missed the short putt on the way back for another bogey.

"When you three-putt from seven feet, you lose control from the driver's seat," Hurst lamented.

The downward spiral continued when her approach fell short of the green at the 17th. She chipped four feet short of the hole then pushed her par putt right of the cup, dropping her into a tie for the lead at six-under.

"When I saw she was seven-under, I thought I'd better stop eating," said Sorenstam, "When I heard she missed her putt on 17, I started putting and getting loose again. Then they told me to get on the tee."

Hurst was left out of the playoff when she blasted out of a bunker to 15 feet at 18 then narrowly missed her putt to save par.

Kim, a three-time LPGA winner from Korea, was one-over before teeing off Saturday and returned to red numbers with two birdies on the front nine. She rocketed into contention on the back side, posting five birdies on the last seven holes.

Michele Redman finished alone in fourth place at four-under, while Dina Ammaccapane and Liselotte Neumann tied for fifth at minus- three.

Juli Inkster, still in search of her first victory of the season after winning three times last year, finished alongside Janice Moodie and Kristi Albers at two-under 214. Dorothy Delasin, Pearl Sinn, Kathryn Marshall and Charlotta Sorenstam rounded out the top-10 at minus-one.

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