Nilsmark Steals Scene in Act II

Whatever happens in the final round of the Valley of the Stars Championship today, it will be hard to beat the drama at the 18th hole Saturday.

As Stephanie Lowe, Catrin Nilsmark and Annika Sorenstam walked up the fairway to hit their third shots on the 440-yard, par-five hole at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, Lowe and Nilsmark were tied for the lead at nine under par and Sorenstam, the first-round leader, was three shots behind.

Lowe hit first, and her wedge shot rolled to within six feet. Sorenstam topped that with an approach shot that stopped less than a foot short, leaving her with a tap-in birdie.

Nilsmark, with her second shot, had hit a three-iron into the left-side bunker, and it appeared she needed to get up and down to tie Lowe for the second-round lead in the 54-hole LPGA tournament.

Nilsmark would say later it really didn’t bother her that her second shot went in the bunker.

“My tee shot left me in a spot where I was between clubs,” she said. “A three-iron wasn’t enough, a five-wood was too much. I hit the three-iron. As long as I wasn’t long or in the right-side bunker, I thought I’d be OK.”

She saw she had a good lie in the bunker and decided to be aggressive. “I wanted to get the ball to the hole and not leave it short,” she said.

She did better than that. Her 40-foot bunker shot came out cleanly, rolled to the hole and in, giving Nilsmark an eagle, a women’s course-record 65 and a two-shot lead with a two-day total of 133.

Lowe missed her birdie putt and settled for a 67 and a 135 total. Sorenstam’s birdie gave her a 70 and left her within striking distance, four shots behind Nilsmark.

What will it take to win today?

“Who knows when Annika is playing,” Nilsmark said.

Nilsmark is one of the lesser-known Swedish players on the LPGA Tour. The 31-year-old from Goteborg has never finished higher than a third-place tie, at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic in 1996.

The slightly built, 5-foot-11 Nilsmark was a member of the Swedish national team from 1983-87 and played one year of collegiate golf at the University of South Florida.

She and her husband, Fredrik, have a 16-month-old daughter, Tuva Augusta, who travels with them.

Nilsmark missed only three months of playing when she had Tuva. “I had an easy pregnancy,” she said. “I guess it is in the genes.

“Having her has changed my life on the tour. Before, everything was golf. Go from tournament to tournament, check into hotels, practice golf, play golf. Now I can look forward to getting back to the hotel, maybe going to the pool and playing with her. I’m more relaxed.”

Nilsmark was certainly relaxed on the back nine Saturday, shooting a 30 on her way to a 65, which matched her career best and marked the best score by a woman in tournament play at Oakmont.

The men’s record is 64, by Ben Hogan during the 1948 Glendale Open.

Nilsmark said she never thought about tying her career best and setting a course record. “It happened so fast,” she said. “Who would have thought I was going to get an eagle on the final hole?”

Sorenstam was feeling pretty good about her approach shot.

“Then it was nothing,” she said.

Lowe, another non-winner on the tour, was feeling pretty good about her entire round, which included a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 13 that gave her a three-shot lead.

But then Nilsmark, who had birdies on Nos. 11 and 12, got two more on 15 and 16 and then the eagle on 18. Suddenly, she was the Swedish golfer everyone was talking about.

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The Leaders

Leaders through Saturday’s play:

(Complete scores, Page 14):

VALLEY OF THE STARS

CHAMPIONSHIP--PAR 72

Catrin Nilsmark: -11

Stephanie Lowe: -9

Annika Sorenstam: -7

Jane Geddes: -5

Cindy Flom: -4

Dale Eggeling: -4