Sorenstam Is Clearly in the Driver’s Seat

Chances are nobody is going to remember that Annika Sorenstam’s fourth consecutive tournament victory shouldn’t have happened, that you rarely see the leader shoot a 77 and a pursuer make up 10 shots, birdie the last hole and win in a playoff.

But that’s what winning streaks are all about, says Sorenstam, who will try to equal Nancy Lopez’s record of five consecutive LPGA victories when she tees it up today at Lincoln, Calif., in the first round of the Longs Drug Challenge.

According to the proprietor, here’s how it feels to live in a zone: “It doesn’t matter what you do, things go your way. . . . You see a big hole and the putts go in. . . . It’s like driving in the street and you have a green light the whole time.”

It’s starting to appear as if Sorenstam is on cruise control, especially after her stirring playoff victory Saturday at Wilshire Country Club, where leader Pat Hurst flamed out. Not only has Sorenstam won four of the six tournaments she has played this year and finished second in the first two, she has also shot a 59, won her third major, established a new career money standard and generally made a mockery of the LPGA Tour.

Just don’t expect her to play next week at Austin, Texas, even if she wins this week. She won’t, preferring to space her schedule of events to avoid playing five weeks in a row.

Sorenstam says she is fresh despite the rigors of her winning streak, thanks largely to the quirky LPGA schedule that followed her victory at the Nabisco Championship with no tournaments the next two weeks, then a three-day tournament at Wilshire.

“I feel great about my game,” she said. “I have a chance to make history, but I feel calm. I don’t feel too much pressure, I just want to see how far [the streak] can go.”

There is every reason to feel good about her game. Sorenstam is averaging about 10 yards more off the tee this year, she says her long irons have improved the most and she is putting again with confidence after a series of tips from Senior PGA Tour player Dave Stockton.

In fact, Sorenstam is feeling so confident, she no longer tries to avoid the expected pressure of accomplishing something great, a burden she was unable to handle in 1997 when she was going for her third consecutive U.S. Open victory and missed the cut.

“I’ve learned a lot along the way,” she said. “I know what’s at stake. I know what I have to do, but I won’t feel bad if I don’t do it. Therefore, I don’t feel any pressure.”

By the way, if it makes any difference, Karrie Webb isn’t playing this week.

MORE ANNIKA

Sorenstam’s physical fitness has been a factor this year, she has said.

The person responsible is Adnan Qaisar, a fitness trainer at Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, where Sorenstam has a house. A former member of Pakistan’s national taekwondo team, Qaisar started working with Sorenstam and influenced her to train more, eventually raising Sorenstam to as many as 750 stomach crunches a day.

SCHEDULING 101

The LPGA tournament at Wilshire had to end Saturday because an Easter egg hunt was scheduled Sunday. Don’t think the PGA Tour hasn’t had a similar egg on its face.

In 1996, the Honda Classic had to be moved to Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, Fla., because a club member had a bar mitzvah scheduled at the Westin Hills in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and wouldn’t change the date.

PRICE OF SUCCESS

Nike Golf would have had to spend about $4.6 million for the 15 minutes of TV air time it received because of the logos of Tiger Woods and David Duval at the Masters.

According to Michigan-based Joyce Julius & Associates, which keeps track of exposure time and value during TV events, the swoosh was big.

Calculations were made at $300,000 a minute.

* Woods’ cap, total 9 minutes 6 seconds: $2.73 million.

* Woods’ shirt, 1 minute 23 seconds; ball, 9 seconds; glove, 2 seconds; total 1 minute 31 seconds: $470,000.

* Duval’s cap, 4 minutes 7 seconds; shirt, 31 seconds; total 4 minutes 35 seconds: $1.4 million.

CHEW ON THIS

Here is some unexpected fallout from Tigermania: Prices for his trading cards are going through the roof.

A 1997 Platinum Heroes of the Game card sold for $5,500 on Yahoo, a 1997 Masters Golf Foil Pro 9.5 card sold for $2,000 and a 1997 Pro 10 rookie card went for $1,326.

Apparently the bubble gum was extra.

NO LANGUISHING LANGER

What in the world is going on with Bernhard Langer?

Third last week at Hilton Head, S.C., tied for sixth at the Masters, tied for third at the Players Championship, the 44-year-old Langer has climbed to No. 10 on the money list with $936,311.

While most of the speculation on which Europeans would have the most impact playing the PGA Tour this year centered on Jesper Parnevik, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia, Langer has made the biggest splash.

If this continues, it will present a sticky situation for Sam Torrance when he chooses his Ryder Cup wild cards. Torrance has already said he’s certain to choose Olazabal with one, but that leaves only one other wild-card pick for five key players--Langer, Garcia, Parnevik, Jean Van de Velde and Miguel Angel Jimenez--who are playing full time on the PGA Tour and not on the European Tour.

As for Langer, the reason for his success is his iron play. He’s 13th in greens in regulation. Last year, he would have been 154th if he had played enough rounds to be ranked.

BULLETIN: CHI CHI ANGRY

Chi Chi Rodriguez shot an 80 in the last round of the Tradition and finished 36 shots behind winner Doug Tewell.

Do you think Chi Chi was happy?

Uh, no no.

At least Chi Chi knew what the problem was: The courses are getting too hard on the Senior PGA Tour.

“What they are doing is making a mockery out of this tour,” he said. “This is ridiculous.”

It’s understandable that Rodriguez is upset, because at 65 he’s no match for the beefed-up courses that the tour has come up with, mostly at the repeated urging of such other big names as Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Hale Irwin as well as most of the rank and file.

A 22-time winner on the senior tour, Rodriguez says he’s almost finished, but doesn’t want to be signing for 80s every time out. According to Rodriguez, the senior tour is struggling.

“We have lost all the galleries and the ratings because people don’t want to come out here and watch us make double bogeys. We are just above mud wrestling on TV.

“The gap is too wide. The best players are going to win, no matter what, but what they’re doing with the golf courses is brutal.”

The Cochise Course at Desert Mountain measured just under 7,000 yards.

(Note to Chi Chi: If you really care about the health of the senior tour, maybe you can convince Watson it’s a good idea to play in its majors. Watson skipped the Tradition for the Heritage.)

GATOR, NOT TIGER

They’re not exactly whistling a happy tune at Hilton Head, either, not after a train wreck of a golf tournament that didn’t end until Monday morning because of a darkness-delayed playoff carried over from Sunday.

Ken Burger of the Charleston Post and Courier says part of the problem with the Heritage tournament is that Woods doesn’t play--and probably never will because the event follows the Masters.

If so, Burger says the Heritage may be nothing more than “golf’s third world.”

Jose Coceres of Argentina beat Billy Mayfair on the fifth playoff hole, which was important only to the participants, Burger said.

“In the grand scheme of things, it just doesn’t matter. Even TV turned away. The result will be reported in due time. If, however, Tiger were involved, the world would stand still to learn his fate.”

The best advice would be for the world to keep moving. Let the record show this: Besides the four majors, Woods only plays about 16 other tournaments a year. With no Tiger at Hilton Head, TV viewers are going to have to make do with pictures of boats in Calibogue Sound and alligators sunning on the creek banks.

Do what you will with this information, but it should be pointed out that Coceres was the defending champion at Dubai but didn’t even bother to enter this year when Woods received a $2-million fee to show up while Coceres was offered nothing more than a plane ticket.

COME TOGETHER

Fanny and Nick, you can’t keep them apart. That would be caddie Fanny Sunesson working for her old boss, Nick Faldo. They worked side by side for 10 years until parting ways two years ago.

Sunesson has been with Notah Begay III, but he’s taking time off to rest his back, so she called Faldo and they worked out a deal for at least last week at Hilton Head (where Faldo tied for 51st) and this week at Houston.

Is it going to work out? It can’t be much worse, since Begay has missed five cuts in seven events and Faldo hasn’t been in the top 140 on the money list since 1997, the last time he won.

TRAVEL UPDATE

The bad news: foot-and-mouth disease in Europe.

The good news: unexpected availability of tee times because of a soft spring booking period.

If you’ve ever wanted to play the Old Course at St. Andrews, PerryGolf is offering a $2,790 package in May and June that includes round-trip air fare from New York, four nights at the St. Andrews Golf Hotel, a guaranteed tee time at the Old Course, a tee time at one of the three other St. Andrews courses plus a tee time at either Carnoustie or Kingsbarns.

SIGN UP NOW

Will they or won’t they? It will be interesting to see how many pros sign up to play the $3.3-million Scottish Open, which is being played again after a five-year absence and is being held the week before the British Open for the first time.

Loch Lomond Golf Club is the venue for the Scottish Open and the British Open will be played at Royal Lytham & St. Annes on the west coast of England, near Blackpool. The tournament is a result of a three-way, five-year deal between Loch Lomond, the European Tour and IMG.

More European players than U.S. players are probably going to be interested in the event, but to lure the pros to the Scottish Open, 15 exempt places into the British Open are at stake.