Lorie Kane Finishes Second at Williams Championship
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:44:32
Sorenstam, who began the day with a one-stroke lead over Lorie Kane and Cristie Kerr, carded a final-round 65 (-5) to win for the seventh time in 16 starts and claim the $150,000 first-place check. The win gives Sorenstam $2,061,991 for the season and puts her over the $2 million mark for the second-straight year.
""I bogeyed the first hole and my caddie said, 'It's okay, we've got 17 more to go, just keep playing,'"" said Sorenstam, who switched to a left-hand low putting stroke and put a new Callaway Big Bertha II driver in her bag prior to the Williams Championship. ""I felt inside that I was playing good enough, and I made some great putts when I needed to, so it was a good day, definitely.""
The Swede rebounded from a bogey on the first hole with birdies on holes three, seven and eight to make the turn at eight-under-par for the tournament, a stroke ahead of rookie Joanne Mills and Kerr. A Sorenstam bogey at the 12th was followed by birdies on holes 13, 15, 17 and 18, leaving her at 11-under-par 199.
""It was nice to come back from two weeks off and bounce back the way I did after the British Open, to win in Sweden and then win here right away,"" said Sorenstam. ""This is shaping up to be my best season ever, and I'm thrilled with the way I played today. I made a few mistakes, but then I bounced back really quickly and made birdie, so I'm delighted.""
Kane, who earned $91,325 for her runner-up finish, carded 14-straight pars to start the day before recording back-to-back birdies on holes 15 and 16 to get to seven-under-par. Kane secured her second-place finish with an impressive up-and-down for par despite having a buried lie in the 18th greenside bunker. The finish was Kane's best of the season since finishing second to Sorenstam in the season-opening LPGA Takefuji Classic in February and moved her into 13th place on the 2002 LPGA money list.
""I've had an up-and-down run the last little while, and this has been encouraging for me, finally getting the scoring side of my game back,"" said Kane. ""Any time you can play a final round on Sunday contending with the number-one player in the world, you're doing things right. So, I've had a good week in Tulsa.""
Mills carded three consecutive rounds in the 60s, 69-68-67, to finish in a tie for third with Kerr for the best finish of her rookie season. Mills, who was just trying to earn enough money this week to move into the top-90 on the money list and keep her exempt card, earned $58,750, the largest paycheck of her career (including nine seasons on the Ladies European Tour), and moved to 71st on the 2002 money list with one full-field event remaining on the LPGA schedule.
Kerr posted a final-round 69 to finish at 204 (-6), her sixth top-10 finish of the season. Meg Mallon carded the best round of the day with a 64 (-6) to move into a tie for fifth with rookie Beth Bauer. Bauer earned enough points to all but clinch Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors. With a 137-point lead, Bauer will claim the coveted Louise Suggs trophy unless Natalie Gulbis can win next week's Safeway Classic and Bauer finishes no better than 37th.
The victory, Sorenstam's 38th, ties her with LPGA Tour Hall of Famer Carol Mann for 10th place on the LPGA's all-time win list. Mann reached 38 wins in her 15th season, while Sorenstam is currently playing her ninth season."
