Sorenstam Yells ‘Fore!’

If you’re Annika Sorenstam, it’s not about the 49 LPGA tournaments you’ve won, the six major titles in the books or even the $6.3 million you banked last year. What it’s about, Sorenstam said, is a certain grand plan, a grand slam plan like no other, and then to maybe walk away from it all.

What it’s about for Sorenstam is winning all four majors in one year. This year.

So what if no one has ever done it before.

“It’s a very lofty goal and I know that,” she said. “I figure if I talk about it, I feel I get more comfortable thinking about the thought. I know nobody else has done it ... but if you believe it in your mind, I believe I can do it.”

And for the first time, Sorenstam, 33, hinted Tuesday that the end could be in sight for her Hall of Fame career. If somehow she does win all four majors this year, Sorenstam said she could see herself at a point of walking away from pro golf.

“Yes, I can, but I don’t know if winning four majors will be it,” she said, “but I will tell you then I would feel very complete.

“It’s totally up to me. The game of golf has given me so much, but again, there comes a point you can only do so much, this is my 11th year on tour, and I’m feeling very satisfied with what I’ve achieved.”

Last year, Sorenstam won the LPGA Championship and the Women’s British Open and came close enough in the other two majors that they could have started engraving her name on the trophies.

She led the Kraft Nabisco with six holes to go but wound up second to Patricia Meunier-Lebouc when Sorenstam bogeyed the 13th and 14th. At the U.S. Open, Sorenstam was tied for the lead with one hole to go when a birdie would have won it and a par would have put her in a playoff, but she made bogey instead and finished fourth to eventual champion Hilary Lunke.

Since the LPGA went back to a four-major schedule in 1983, the closest anyone has come to winning them all was Pat Bradley in 1986. She won three majors and was fifth at the U.S. Open. In 1950, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won all three events considered LPGA majors and Sandra Haynie won the two majors that the LPGA recognized in 1974.

But no one has won all four LPGA majors in one year. That could be a daunting task, with the Kraft Nabisco coming up Thursday at Mission Hills, but at the very least, Sorenstam already has her game tuned up.

She has played twice this year and won both times, including last week at the Safeway International, where she shot a two-under 70 on Sunday and missed only two fairways in the face of 30-mph winds. Sorenstam also won the ANZ Masters in Australia, which is not an LPGA event.

With 26 LPGA victories since the start of 2001, Sorenstam has controlled the destiny of the women’s pro tour.

“I find it interesting that five years ago, people asked me, ‘Doesn’t the LPGA need a dominant player to capture the imagination of the public?’ ” LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw said. “Now that we’ve got one, ‘Is it a good thing to have a dominant player?’

“Of course it’s good. It’s all good.”

And winning all four majors would be unprecedented.

“She’s always set her goals high,” Votaw said. “She always comes close to achieving them and in many cases surpassing them. If that’s what is driving her, my hat is off to her.”

The facts are that if Sorenstam is going to fulfill her goal, it’s going to be an uphill battle. But it’s also true that the field of players that she must defeat could be limited. Of the last 22 majors, 18 of them have been won by four players -- Sorenstam, Se Ri Pak, Karrie Webb and Juli Inkster.

Lorena Ochoa, who tied for third here last year, said there might be pitfalls ahead for Sorenstam.

“It probably puts a lot of pressure or a lot of tension, if you want to call it that,” she said.

But neither Sorenstam nor Pia Nilsson, her golf mentor from Sweden, agree with that assessment.

“It’s just me knowing what I want to do. This is what I’m like. Some people want to share their goals, some don’t.”

Nilsson said Sorenstam is not avoiding pressure, only setting a target to inspire her.

“She needs goals that motivate her to continue her excellence journey,” Nilsson said. “She believes she can do it. Why not go for it? The only thing that can happen is nothing. Of course, she knows that it might not happen.”

If she doesn’t win this week, Sorenstam said she would alter her goals slightly.

“Well, then I have three more to go for. I will keep on grinding. It’s majors I want to win. I try to stay positive. I try to have a good outlook, so that’s not the way I want this week to turn out.”

In her 10 full years on the PGA Tour, Sorenstam has led the money list six times and made more than $13 million. In the Golf Digest 50 that was published last month, an all-inclusive list of earnings from official money, unofficial money and endorsements, Sorenstam was 17th and the highest-ranking female player with $6.3 million.

Her endorsements, which include Callaway Golf, Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, Cutter & Buck, Kraft and Microsoft, bring in an estimated $3.9 million year.

Sorenstam, who played only 17 LPGA events last year, said she may cut back even more this year to limit wear and tear on her body and to keep herself on track for her goal of winning majors. That is something she has discussed with Tiger Woods, who won four consecutive major titles but not in the same year.

Sorenstam’s idea is four, this year, starting Thursday.

“I have a long ways to go, but I love challenges and this is something that really keeps me motivated, something that makes me want to work harder. That’s why I to want to set one of these goals.”

*

KRAFT NABISCO

CHAMPIONSHIP

* When: Thursday-Sunday.

* Where: Mission Hills Country Club, Dinah Shore Tournament Course (6,520 yards, par 72), Rancho Mirage.

*

Annika’s Majors

LPGA major tournaments won by Annika Sorenstam, among her 49 tour victories:

* U.S. Women’s Open: 1995, ’96

* Kraft Nabisco Championship: 2001, ’02

* LPGA Championship: 2003

* Women’s British Open: 2003