Sorenstam increases lead to three shots

Just when it looked like a bad day was about to get worse, Annika Sorenstam turned a good break into a birdie that changed everything in the season-ending ADT Championship on Friday.

Sorenstam kept pace with a steady charge from Karrie Webb, then pulled away with back-to-back birdies late in the second round for a 4-under 68 that set the 36-hole record at Trump International. She took a three-shot lead over Webb, Laura Diaz and Cristie Kerr.

"I've got a little lead, but not a comfortable lead at all," said Sorenstam, who was at 10-under 134. "On this golf course, it can change on one hole."

It changed for the better on the par-5 ninth.

Sorenstam was even par for her round, and her body language showed utter frustration -- she shook her head and slumped her shoulders. When she walked off the eighth green, she no longer had the lead. Then, her 7-wood from 214 yards on No. 9 sailed high and to the right, headed for trouble.

"It was inches from hitting the path and going into the bushes," Sorenstam said. "I saw my mom standing there and she said, 'Are you trying to hit me?' It was a good break. It was a momentum shifter."

Sorenstam hit a wedge into 6 feet for an unlikely birdie that lifted her spirits. Four birdies on the back nine gave her a cushion that might look even bigger considering who's in front.

"You don't want to be too much more than three behind going into Sunday," Webb said.

Webb, a two-time winner at the tournament, has avoided big numbers for two days and looked particularly sharp in her round of 69 that might have been better except for a few silly bogeys -- she three-putted from below the big ridge on No. 6 and missed the 12th green with a wedge. But she is driving it well and giving herself plenty of chances.

Diaz had a 68 and will play in the final group on Saturday with Sorenstam. That's not a bad place to be considering that Diaz wasn't even in the ADT Championship until she birdied her last two holes a week ago to finish second and earn enough money to get into the top 30 on the money list.

An ankle injury has severely interrupted her last two years, but that's healthy now, and her confidence is returning. She chipped in for birdie on the first hole and played bogey-free the final 13 holes for a 68.

Diaz doesn't think a three-shot lead by Sorenstam is particularly daunting.

"Annika has obviously proven that she plays really good golf almost every time she goes out," Diaz said. "I think we all go out and we just try and make as many birdies as we can."

That's usually not the way anyone thinks at Trump International, one of the toughest tests on the LPGA Tour. But with only moderate wind, players are able to take aim at the flags and make the most out of the pure greens. More than half the field -- 16 players -- is under par through two rounds.

Sorenstam, Webb, Diaz and Kerr (70) each had at least a share of the lead at one point, but Sorenstam made sure she was alone at the top with her finish.

Back-to-back birdies starting on No. 11 gave her the outright lead again, and then she built a cushion. Sorenstam had to lay up on the 494-yard 15th with a stiff breeze in her face, but her sand wedge checked up behind the hole, and she made the 4-footer for birdie.

Then, she hit pitching wedge into 5 feet on the 16th for another birdie that extended her lead.

"Soft little pitching wedge," Sorenstam said. "It was a shot I've been working on with Henri (Reis), and it just turned out perfect."

Along with giving her separation over the pack, Sorenstam dimmed hopes of two players -- defending champion Meg Mallon and Lorie Kane of Canada -- who made up a lot of ground.

Kane turned in the best score of the tournament by making 10 birdies in a round of 65, while Mallon holed out for eagle from 143 yards away on No. 10 on her way to a 66. Both wound up at 4-under 140.

"I have a chance," Mallon said.

Both were six shots behind, and depending on the fickle weather of south Florida, both are capable of making a run up the leaderboard. A year ago, Mallon overcame a three-shot deficit to Sorenstam in the final round to win.

Kane never imagined she would be in this spot -- not after a 75 on Thursday and a three-putt bogey from 5 feet on the second hole.

"I thought, 'Oh my God, here we go again,'" Kane said. "But I think I'm headed in the right direction."

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