Annika Sorenstam holds on for 7th win of season

Annika Sorenstam hopes her second straight victory at the John Q. Hammons Classic is a springboard to another strong finish to the season.

Sorenstam closed with a 2-over 73 Sunday and withstood a late charge from rookie Paula Creamer to win the Hammons Classic for the third time in four years.

Sorenstam made 15 straight pars to start the final round and overcame bogeys on two of the last three holes to finish one shot ahead of Creamer at 5-under 208 for her seventh LPGA Tour win in 14 starts this season and 63rd overall. She also won a European Tour event in Sweden this year.

After winning the Hammons Classic last year, Sorenstam went on to win three of her next five events and picked up her seventh player of the year award.

``For me, it's important to play good at the end of the year,'' Sorenstam said. ``There's a lot of things that are at stake. We're talking money list, we're talking player of the year, Vare Trophy. Those are goals of mine and they mean a lot.

``A victory here sets me up a little closer to my goals.''

Of the eight tournaments she won last year, she has now defended her title in three, tied for second in another and has four left to play -- the Office Depot Championship, the Samsung World Championship, the Mizuno Classic and the ADT Championship.

After playing in a charity event Monday, the Office Depot is up next, in two weeks. Just like last year, the victory at the Hammons Classic was Sorenstam's first since June at the McDonald's LPGA Championship.

``The season is far from over for me and for some other players,'' Sorenstam said. ``It's key to play well in the end.

``It's great to get off to a good start, but I think it's also important to finish well.''

The 19-year-old Creamer, who paced the United States to a 15 1/2 -12 1/2 victory over Sorenstam and the European team in last week's Solheim Cup, started the final round five strokes off the lead.

The rookie opened with six straight pars and closed out the front nine birdie-bogey-birdie. After three pars on the back nine, she birdied Nos. 13 and 14 to get to 5 under, but gave the strokes back with bogeys at the 16th and 17th as Sorenstam's lead reached four strokes.

Creamer, a two-time winner this year, birdied the 18th for a 2-under 69 and a 4 under total.

``I knew I had to play good golf. She's not going to make mistakes come Sunday,'' said Creamer, who is No. 3 in the world rankings. ``I knew she was going to play the way she always plays, and she doesn't have to turn it on when no one is pressuring her and making birdies. And there for a while, I did.''

Sorenstam's precision play was perfect for the 6,551-yard, Cedar Ridge Country Club layout, where 2 1/4 -inch rough punished players for missing the narrow, tree-lined fairways. The Swede also won the event in 2002 at Tulsa Country Club.

``I think the key is patience,'' Sorenstam said. ``You have to place it in the right spots here.''

Entering the round with a one-stroke lead, Sorenstam pounded fairways and greens, but was unable to convert birdie putts at Nos. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 to pull away.

``I wasn't trying to just make pars, because I figured there's some birdies out there, and the last thing you want to do is just go out there cruising and all of a sudden somebody catches you and it's tough to change gears at the time,'' Sorenstam said.

At No. 9, Sorenstam's drive sailed left of the fairway and settled among trees. With her heels against the cart path, Sorenstam hit a low liner that ran through the green to the back fringe. She popped her third shot to within 12 feet and saved par, her ninth in a row.

While Sorenstam was steady, the three players closest after the second round -- Sweden's Maria Hjorth, Australia's Michelle Ellis and France's Karine Icher -- faltered.

Hjorth bogeyed the first and ninth holes, while Icher had back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 2 and 3. Ellis quickly fell back after a double bogey on the first and triple bogey on the third.

The three were the only players to start less than four strokes behind Sorenstam and each was in search of her first LPGA Tour win.

Hjorth (75) and American Diana D'Alessio (69) tied for third at 2 under. Icher closed with a 75 and was the only other player under par for the tournament, finishing at 1 under.

Ellis (79) fell to 2 over for the tournament and finished in a tie for 13th.

208 Annika Sorenstam (Swe) 68 67 73

209 Paula Creamer 69 71 69

211 Diana D'Alessio 68 74 69, Maria Hjorth (Swe) 64 72 75

212 Karine Icher (Fra) 67 70 75

213 Jeong Jang (Kor) 70 72 71, Leta Lindley 70 70 73, Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 73 68 72, Miriam Nagl (Ger) 74 71 68

214 Michele Redman 72 71 71, Mi-Hyun Kim (Kor) 69 74 71, Shi Hyun Ahn (Kor) 71 71 72

215 Carin Koch (Swe) 74 73 68, Rachel Hetherington (Aus) 68 73 74, Michelle Estill 74 69 72, Moira Dunn 73 71 71, Michelle Ellis 67 69 79

216 Catriona Matthew (Gbr) 73 71 72, Stephanie Louden 72 73 71, Meena Lee (Kor) 73 70 73

217 Stacy Prammanasudh 74 68 75, Silvia Cavalleri (Ita) 75 72 70, Aree Song (Kor) 75 73 69, Karen Stupples (Gbr) 72 72 73, Sherri Steinhauer 71 70 76

218 Nadina Taylor (Aus) 75 73 70, Becky Iverson 76 70 72, Jackie Gallagher-Smith 73 73 72, Young Jo (Kor) 79 69 70, Nicole Jeray 71 71 76, Jennifer Rosales (Phi) 73 75 70

219 Ji Yeon Lee (Kor) 73 75 71, Laura Davies (Gbr) 70 70 79, Celeste Troche 75 69 75, Wendy Doolan (Aus) 72 72 75, Nancy Scranton 76 71 72, Patricia Meunier-Lebec (Fra) 72 75 72, Heather Bowie 73 73 73

220 Catherine Cartwright 71 72 77, Mikaela Parmlid (Swe) 79 70 71, Rosie Jones 70 75 75, Liselotte Neumann (Swe) 70 73 77, Joanne Morley (Gbr) 73 72 75, Il Mi Chung (Kor) 73 71 76, Karrie Webb (Aus) 73 74 73, Tracy Hanson 73 71 76

221 Jimin Kang (Kor) 73 71 77, Candie Kung (Tai) 74 73 74, Jamie Hullett 74 73 74, Annie Young 72 72 77, Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 75 74 72

222 Dorothy Delasin 73 74 75, Hana Kim 76 72 74, Christina Kim 72 72 78, Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 73 73 76, Charlotta Sorenstam (Swe) 76 70 76, Karen Weiss 71 74 77, Maggie Will 71 74 77, Hilary Lunke 72 75 75

223 Tina Barrett 75 73 75, A.J Eathorne (Can) 73 75 75, Erica Blasberg 71 77 75, Cathy Johnston-Forbes 74 75 74, Marcy Hart 71 74 78, Nanci Bowen 74 72 77, Marisa Baena 77 70 76

224 Joo Mi Kim (Kor) 80 69 75, Cindy Figg-Currier 75 74 75, Candy Hannemann 75 74 75, Riko Higashio (Jpn) 78 70 76, Johanna Head (Gbr) 74 75 75

225 Dina Ammaccapane 70 79 76, Lee Ann Walker-Cooper 71 74 80, Kris Tamulis 69 80 76

226 Siew-Ai Lim (Myn) 72 73 81

228 Mardi Lunn (Aus) 73 76 79

229 Brooke Tull 73 75 81

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