Sorenstam (76) Must Make Cut Before She Can Make History

By early afternoon Thursday, as she reached the last hole of the day, Annika Sorenstam’s mood was a shade darker than her visor, which is what happens when you’re six over par through 17 holes.

Her mood brightened considerably when she chipped in to birdie the last hole, but a five-over-par 76 falls somewhat short of getting out of the gate in a hurry when you’re trying to win a record sixth tournament in a row.

Sorenstam acknowledged as much after matching her worst round in more than a year and falling nine shots off the lead after the first round of the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill Resort & Spa.

But she refused to feel low, even though her score was high.

“It was just one of those days,” she said. “I can’t get too upset about it anymore. We’ll see. It’s not the start I had in mind. I will have to shoot very low the next three days. It’s just another challenge.”

There could be another one too. Weather forecasters are predicting rain for today’s second round. But before Sorenstam worries about winning the tournament, she’ll first have to make the cut -- something she has done in 46 consecutive tournaments.

Tied for 107th, Sorenstam is a long way from the top and chasing Silvia Cavalleri and Catrin Nilsmark, who shot 67. Five players are tied for third at three-under 68, including four-time winner Cristie Kerr, who said whatever Sorenstam does is out of her control.

“We are all trying to win the tournament. She’s won a ton of tournaments, we’re not focusing on her,” Kerr said. “She is not focusing on us, I can tell you that.”

If nine shots sound like a ton, Sorenstam might call upon her experience at the 2001 Office Depot at Wilshire Country Club, where she came from 10 shots down on the last day to beat Pat Hurst.

Even though Sorenstam’s streak of five consecutive victories is still alive, a couple of her other streaks came to an end Thursday.

After playing her last 40 holes without a bogey, she made a bogey on her second hole. Her streak of 43 consecutive rounds of par or better also ended, and that one had lasted since June.

After she signed her scorecard, someone asked Sorenstam the last time she shot a 76.

“I can’t remember. And if I did, I don’t want to remember,” she said.

It was her worst round in 19 tournaments, going back to the 76 she shot in the second round of last year’s Kraft Nabisco, which ended with Sorenstam in a tie for 13th.

But that’s not all. It was her highest opening round in five years -- she also shot a 76 at Rochester -- and her highest score in relation to par since her five-over 77 at the 2002 British Open (the last time she missed a cut).

Sorenstam said she thought she played all right Thursday, even though she didn’t birdie any of the three par-five holes and bogeyed two of the four par-threes. She wound up with two birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey.

And although Sorenstam is second-ranked on the LPGA Tour in driving distance at 272.9 yards, she averaged only 232 yards Thursday.

Starting at the 10th hole, Sorenstam was even through No. 16, but three-putted the par-three 17th for a bogey and added another bogey at the 18th to make the turn at two over.

After a three-putt bogey at the second and a missed eight-footer that led to a bogey at the fourth, Sorenstam was at four-over, but she still had a chance to get some of it back at No. 7, a 495-yard par-five. Instead, she went in the other direction.

She had 195 yards left to the green and a five-iron from the middle of the fairway, but Sorenstam sent it left into deep rough. She took two shots to get out, hit her ball over the green with her fourth shot, chipped to within eight feet and two-putted for a double-bogey seven.

“It just didn’t go my way at all,” Sorenstam said.

“On the front nine, it bounced everywhere I didn’t want it to bounce. It was just one of those days. The last hole was good. I thought I played pretty good.”

Any pressure tied to her pursuit of a record sixth consecutive victory disappeared quickly, she said.

“I thought about it in the morning, but after my first bogey, I had other things to think about,” she said. “I felt really free. You would think I was nervous, but I felt fine. That had nothing to do with it.”

At least she ended on an upbeat note. She left her approach short of the ninth green, her closing hole, but chipped onto the green from about 50 feet and watched the ball roll straight into the bottom of the hole.

Sorenstam raised her arms, smiled, gathered in the applause, and reflected on what that last bit of good fortune might mean to her.

“Hopefully, my luck is turning,” she said. “I need that the next few days.”

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The leaderboard

Looking to become the first LPGA player to win six consecutive tournaments, Annika Sorenstam shot a five-over 76 in the first round at the Michelob Ultra Open:

at Williamsburg, Va.

Kingsmill Resort & Spa, River Course

Par: 71; Yardage: 6,306

Second round, Today, Noon, ESPN2

*--* POS. PLAYER 1ST RND TO PAR T1 Silvia Cavalleri 67 -4 T1 Catrin Nilsmark 67 -4 T3 Kristen Samp 68 -3 T3 Cristie Kerr 68 -3 T3 Leta Lindley 68 -3 T3 Laura Diaz 68 -3 T3 Jill McGill 68 -3 T107 Annika Sorenstam 76 +5

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