Annika Sorenstam stretches lead to 10 shots

Annika Sorenstam finally had a few slip-ups, but they were hardly enough to stop the inevitable.

Sorenstam stretched her lead to a staggering 10 strokes Saturday, virtually assuring her 60th career victory with another round to go at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.

Only two players in LPGA Tour history have rallied from such a daunting deficit on the final day, and they just happen to be two of the greatest in women's golf history -- Sorenstam in 2001 and Mickey Wright in 1964.

Sorenstam is the one in front this time, and she doesn't have anyone nearly so impressive in her rearview mirror.

"I've just got to play my own game,'' she said. "The last thing I want to do is get involved with what everyone else is doing. I always watch the scoreboard, so I know I'll be doing that. But I don't want to change my strategy too much.''

Despite her first bogeys of the week -- gasp, she actually had three -- Sorenstam managed a 5-under 67 that extended her six-stroke lead at the halfway point. A three-round total of 198 left her at 18-under.

Silvia Cavalleri put up the best score of the day, 65, but that was only good enough to pull the Italian within 11 strokes of Sorenstam. Emilee Klein shot 68 and was the closest challenger at 208.

Everyone else is playing for second. Sorenstam's only opponent is history.

With a fourth straight stellar round on Sunday, she's got a chance for another record -- largest margin of victory. Cindy Mackey holds the mark with a 14-stroke runaway at the MasterCard International Pro-Am in 1986.

"I just want to win the tournament,'' Sorenstam said. "That's all that matters to me.''

Still, she's putting on quite a show at Eagle's Landing Country Club south of Atlanta, just one week after being denied a record sixth straight victory. She had to settle for merely tying Nancy Lopez's record of five wins in a row.

Now, Sorenstam is about to pull even with another LPGA great. The 60th victory would tie Patty Berg for third place on the career list, leaving only Kathy Whitworth (88 wins) and Wright (82) to chase down.

"Of course, I'm thinking about it,'' Sorenstam conceded.

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