History Seems to Be Quietly Following in Sorenstam Footsteps

Annika Sorenstam is no great student of the history of women’s golf or her place in it. Not like Tiger Woods. Woods knows in his head what Jack Nicklaus did and when. Woods knows when there is a record to be broken before he breaks it.

Sorenstam came from 10 shots behind to win her fourth consecutive golf tournament Saturday at Wilshire Country Club in the LPGA Office Depot Hosted by Amy Alcott.

No one has ever come from that far back on the final day and won. Sorenstam didn’t know she was making history. She didn’t know that Muffin Spencer-Devlin won from eight strokes back in 1985 and that no one, until Saturday, had done better.

All Sorenstam knew was she had never done anything quite so extraordinary. Except shoot that 59 a few weeks ago.

And this 10-stroke comeback? It happened while Sorenstam was chasing another bit of history.

Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright won four consecutive events. Not to devalue the accomplishments of Whitworth and Wright, but they won in the 1960s when the fields were smaller, less international and less talented.

Nancy Lopez won five tournaments in a row but skipped an event. Sorenstam has won hers without taking a tournament off. Sorenstam will aim for Lopez’s five straight in Sacramento next week. This is a record Sorenstam knows about.

Otherwise Sorenstam doesn’t seem obsessed with her place in history. Coming from 10 behind, and winning, Sorenstam knew she had never done that. It was with a surprised “Wow” that Sorenstam discovered no one else had either.

She called her victory Saturday “a little bit of a miracle.”

Sorenstam knew she needed to post a good score. So she shot a six-under-par 66. She knew the leaders had to crumble. They did. Especially Pat Hurst.

Hurst had come into the final round at 10 under and with a three-shot lead over Liselotte Neumann. The story was going to be Hurst’s victory and how, finally, this season an American golfer would win. By her eighth hole, Hurst was 11 under. This thing was over.

Except it wasn’t.

Sorenstam was playing with an eerie calmness, with a precise sense of destiny. Hurst began to fall apart. There were bogeys at Nos. 9, 10 and 11. There were bogeys at Nos. 16, 17 and 18. Ugly bogeys.

At No. 16, Hurst three-putted from seven feet. She missed a three-foot par putt at No. 17. Her drive on the par-three 18th was in the bunker, her chip out was 18 feet short and you wanted to cover your eyes and not watch the putt go past the hole.

While Hurst was three-putting 16, Sorenstam had come to an interview room, her round over, a steely birdie on the final hole having put her in a tie with Mi Hyun Kim, a shy South Korean who set a course record with a final-round 65. Kim actually made up more ground than Sorenstam, starting the day 11 shots off the lead.

Unaware of Hurst’s three-putt, Sorenstam said she was prepared for a playoff. “It’s not over,” she said. “Those final holes are hard.”

There was a playoff, but it didn’t include Hurst. In a sweet moment, Hurst’s husband, Jeff Heitt, sent their son, 2-year-old Jackson, under a rope and into the scorers tent. Hurst brushed away a tear so she could smile at Jackson. They shared a lollipop. Sometimes rewards come in different ways. A kiss from a toddler for Hurst. A big hug and a twirl around the 18th green for Sorenstam and her husband, David Esch.

Sorenstam had her miracle. Hurst and the seven other golfers who had been ahead of her after two rounds, cooperated.

The overtime session began on the 18th. When Kim’s tee shot flew past the green, over the trap on the right and near the gallery, this wasn’t a surprise. When Sorenstam lifted her seven-iron high and right at the hole, this wasn’t a surprise either.

The fidgety Kim plopped her first chip well short of the green. Her third shot was not close to the hole either. Sorenstam could two-putt from 14 feet to win. She did, of course.

The 29-year-old Swede has no explanation for this glorious season. She has played six tournaments and won four. She has shot the record-setting 59. She has won twice as much money as anyone else on the LPGA Tour. When she needs a miracle, she gets a miracle.

And still, in a country obsessed with winners, Sorenstam is nearly anonymous. On Thursday, after her first round, Sorenstam stopped to sign autographs and three people who were waiting for Sorenstam to sign had a question. “Who is she?”

Sorenstam is sweet and charming and a little bit in awe of herself. The world doesn’t demand Sorenstam’s attention the way it demands Tiger’s. What’s happening to Sorenstam won’t be the lead sports story anywhere but Sweden. During her streak, Sorenstam has had a hard time getting on the covers of golf magazines. Tiger’s been happening.

But we should recognize greatness when it arrives. It has arrived.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com.