GLENDALE, Calif. Annika Sorenstam likes to think about each shot she hits, making Oakmont Country Club's narrow fairways and small greens one of the Swede's favorite places.

"It's a challenge to play and I think I concentrate in a different way, and that means I do well,'' she said. "I love old, traditional courses.''

She did well in today's opening round of the Valley of the Stars Championship. Sorenstam, last season's LPGA player of the year, shot a 5-under 67 for a one-stroke lead over Stephanie Lowe and Swedish countrywoman Catrin Nilsmark.

Dottie Pepper, Jane Geddes and Luciana Bemvenuti, a former University of Georgia golfer by way of Brazil, were tied for third at 3-under 69.

Defending champion Dale Eggeling, who won last year's rain-shortened, 36-hole event on the first playoff hole, led a group of five others tied at 70. Meg Mallon, winner of the Naples tournament three weeks ago, was one of eight golfers four strokes back at 71.

Se Ri Pak, the Korean sensation who was rookie of the year last season, managed just two birdies in a round of 75.

Sorenstam opened on the back nine and birdied Nos. 13, 15 and 18 before missing an uphill 3-footer for par to bogey on No. 1. She quickly recovered, with birdies on the 2nd, 3rd and 7th holes. She hit 17 greens in all.

"You've got to think your way around the course. There's a lot of strategy,'' she said. "You've got to put your ball on the right side of the green.''

Lowe, an Englishwoman who also played at Georgia, teed off on the back nine in 32-degree conditions at 7:30 a.m., when a blanket of frost covered the 6,276-yard course.

"I had on every layer possible. I had ice on the bottom of my shoes,'' said Lowe, whose best finish in 11 years is a tie for fifth in 1991. "I felt sorry for my caddie. I had to go in the locker room at the turn and empty out my bag.''

By the time Sorenstam began play 3 1/2 hours later against the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains, temperatures had warmed into the mid-70s. Deep blue skies were nearly cloudless and there was no breeze.

"Today was lovely. No wind, nothing,'' Sorenstam said. "The greens are getting quick. I putted really good. I wasn't afraid of going for the birdies.''

Sorenstam, last year's leading money winner and Vare Trophy winner for lowest scoring average, is seeking her first victory in 1999. She tied for 22nd and tied for fourth in her first twoappearances.

She's using a new putter and has experimented with a cross-handed putting grip since October.

"It's the new thing out here,'' she said. "People look for new ways to putt better.''

DIVOTS: Sorenstam and her husband, David Esch, appear in this week's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue as part of a layout on sporting couples. So do quarterback Joe Montana and his wife. "I don't know if you saw Jennifer Montana's stomach, but I almost got on the plane and went home,'' said Sorenstam, who called herself "not the most physically fit person.'' ... Amateur Jennifer Rosales, the 1998 NCAA champion from Southern California making her LPGA debut on a sponsor's exemption, shot a 75. ... Eggeling has scheduled arthroscopic surgery on her left knee after the Dinah Shore ends March 28. ... Beth Daniel and Amy Alcott, who qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame this week when new, softer criteria was approved, shot 73s.