Sorenstam Doesn’t Think She Has a Major Problem

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. -- Annika Sorenstam became a household name by playing in a PGA Tour event, but her career will be defined by her performance on the LPGA Tour.

More specifically, in major championships.

That’s why Sorenstam lists the U.S. Women’s Open, beginning today at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club just outside Portland, among her highest priorities this season.

Sorenstam has 45 victories -- seventh on the all-time list. But her victory last month in the McDonald’s LPGA Championship was only her fifth major championship, tying Amy Alcott for 12th on the all-time majors winner list.

“I want to win majors,” Sorenstam said. “I’ve won 45 times, but I’ve never won the British Open and it’s been a long time since I won this championship.”

Sorenstam’s majors are the 1995 and ’96 U.S. Opens, the Nabisco Championship in 2001 and 2002, and the 2003 LPGA championship.

In men’s golf, Jack Nicklaus is considered the best ever even though he is second to Sam Snead in total victories. Snead had 82 and Nicklaus 73, but because Nicklaus won 18 majors to Snead’s seven, there usually isn’t much of an argument for Snead.

“I know majors is what a lot of people look at,” Sorenstam said. “I don’t really think about those type of things. What matters to me is playing good golf. I’m sure a lot of people have a lot of different opinions about my career, but I’m very happy with mine.”

In order to add to her major totals, Sorenstam will have to contend with defending champion Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak, in addition to teen prodigy Michelle Wie and the 13 other teenagers playing this week.

Inkster, Webb and Pak have combined to win the last five U.S. Opens. Add in Sorenstam and they have won seven of the last eight. Those four have won 17 of the last 22 majors.

But Sorenstam must also overcome some demons. The last time Sorenstam came to Pumpkin Ridge, in 1997, she was trying to become the first to win three consecutive U.S. Opens. She shot 77-73 and missed the cut.

“I think coming in here I just couldn’t handle the pressure,” she said. “It was early in my career. I feel more mature and I think my game has changed quite a bit. If I was three-peating this year, I think I would do better.”

This year, she comes in armed with the ability to handle pressure she learned in part while playing the PGA Tour’s Bank of America Colonial in May.

She will face a longer course than in 1997 -- a course that, when stretched to its limits this weekend, will be a Women’s Open record 6,550 yards. The fairways are firm and fast, the greens are slick and the rough is U.S. Open thick.

“It’s tough,” said Inkster, who shot 66 in the final round last year to overcome a two-shot deficit to Sorenstam. “You don’t hit a lot of drivers ... and if you miss the greens it’s extremely tough. You’re going to have a lot of six- and seven-footers to brush in. But it’s fair. It’s not really tricked up.”

The only trick, at least for Sorenstam, is handling the major championship buzz.

“I was in my own way for a long time,” Sorenstam said of her inability to win a major between 1996 and 2001. “I was thinking about Sunday on Thursday. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve just got to play golf. Since then, I’ve done so much better in majors.”