Moodie coasts to seven shot victory

Scotland's Janice Moodie knew she belonged with the best in the game before beating Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies in the Asahi Ryokuken International.

Now, everyone else knows, too.

``Obviously, you're going to be intimidated playing with the best women's golfer in the world and Laura's a great player,'' said Moodie, who shot a steady 2-under 70 to win her second LPGA title Sunday. ``But no, I'm not. I wouldn't be here if I were intimidated.''

Moodie finished at 15-under 273 on the Mount Vintage Plantation course, seven strokes ahead of Davies (73), and eight in front of Sorenstam (72) and Rosie Jones (67).

Moodie's total surpassed Tina Fischer's 10-under mark for 54 holes that won last year's inaugural event.

``It's my second victory and that says to you, 'You're good, you can do it,''' said Moodie, who earned $187,500. ``I've been knocking on the door for a while. It came from just being patient.''

And from withstanding five extra holes Sunday morning due to Saturday rain and a final-round grouping of Sorenstam and Davies -- two LPGA stars who've combined for 54 tour victories and run down many younger players on Sundays.

Just last week, Sorenstam overcame 19-year-old Natalie Gulbis' two-stroke lead through 54 holes, shooting a 64 Sunday to win the Aerus Electrolux USA Championship.

Moodie had played the first two rounds of that tournament with Sorenstam and hoped to show the same steadiness the Swede exhibited then. Moodie did even better, using an aggressive start to end hope anyone could catch her.

She had two birdies in her final five holes of the rain-delayed third round to lead Davies by four shots and Sorenstam by six early Sunday morning.

``I look at what Annika does and just try and emulate it, especially her putting,'' Moodie said. ``She's a good friend. Thanks for the tips.''

When their final round began, Moodie showed her more accomplished playing partners up close this would not be their day with birdies on the first and third holes.

On No. 1, Moodie stuck her approach to 5 feet, while Davies and Sorenstam were no where near the pin.

Two holes later, Moodie again settled her ball about 12 feet away for birdie while Davies and Sorenstam were putting from at least 40 feet out.

Moodie began an excited bounce as her putt inched toward the hole, hopping when the ball dropped in to go six shots ahead of Davies and eight in front of Sorenstam.

Davies said she and Sorenstam need to shoot 65s for a chance. But even if they did ``Janice would have done what was necessary to win,'' Davies said.

``I would,'' said Moodie, smiling.

Not that Davies and Sorenstam didn't try.

Davies knocked her second shot on the par-5 sixth to about 4 feet and made an eagle. Sorenstam had three straight birdies on Nos. 5-7.

And when Moodie made bogey on the par-3 seventh -- only her fourth bogey of the week -- to fall to 15 under, the lead had shrunk to three over Davies and five over Sorenstam.

But Moodie, whose best finish this year had been a tie for 12th in the Welch's/Circle K Championship in March, regained control on No. 8 with a 5-foot birdie putt.

``I tried, but Janice played really solid,'' Sorenstam said. ``She won the tournament outright, as you can see. I gave it a run, but it didn't work out this time.''

No one came closer than four shots the rest of the way as Moodie calmly played to the center of greens and happily lagged for pars. She showed out one last time on the par-3 15th, dropping a birdie to keep the margin at six after Sorenstam made one of her own.

After missing a 10-footer for par on the 10th hole, Davies said she ``felt like I was fighting Annika for second ... Janice really didn't give us a chance.''

Moodie finally eased up after that. She flashed a big smile when her 30-foot birdie try on the 16th came up a foot short. She drove into the trees on No. 17 and made double bogey, her only such mistake in four days.

Sorenstam looked like she would finish second, but was called for a two-stroke penalty on the 16th hole. She swiped the sand when the ball she had tried to blast out rolled back into the bunker and took a triple-bogey 8. ``I hit the club in the sand while still in the bunker so it was a two-shot penalty,'' said Sorenstam, who has three victories and seven top-10 finishes in eight starts this year.

It's the second time Moodie's held on to a lead to win. She shot 69 on thelast day of the ShopRite LPGA Classic in 2000 for her initial tour victory.

Divots

Jones' 67 was the best round of the day. ... Sorenstam earned $73,437 and became the first LPGA player to surpass $9 million in earnings with $9,066,143. ... The 87 players who made the cut were the largest LPGA weekend field in four years. ... What was with the weather? Temperatures were in the high 30s and low 40s when golfers finished up their third rounds Sundaymorning. By the time, the leaders finished up, it was in the mid 70s.

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