Tournament tradeoff keeps getting better

WILLIAMSBURG

On the PGA Tour, an event almost isn't an event unless Tiger Woods plays in it.

Ditto, sort of, for the LPGA circuit; an event's worthiness spikes the day Annika Sorenstam holds the trophy. Or, in the case of the Michelob Ultra Open, Annika gets a lovely blend of malted barley, hops and yeast sprayed over her noggin on the 18th green.

Granted, the Michelob had a hundred things going for it right out of the gate in 2003 compared to that torpid men's tournament Kingsmill's River Course hosted once upon a time.

Foremost was that Sorenstam and every other top female player couldn't wait to get here from day one. Still can't.

Tiger? Phil? Ernie? A million wild Clydesdales couldn't have dragged them within five area codes of this place to hit a golf ball for money.

So, golf fans, how do you like your tournament tradeoff now - especially after Sorenstam branded her name into Ultra Open posterity with a truly superlative Sunday of golf?

That's rhetorical. There's everything to like, obviously. The proof is in the champions list that already included Hall of Famers Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak, and now features the q ueen of them all.

Sorenstam hit all the right shots in her final-round 66. It was a masterwork of fairways (14 for 14) and greens (15 of 18) that clinched her third title of her comeback season. N eck woes dogged her last year.

It also obliterated Webb's record winning score, 14 under, by five shots.

Sorenstam then hit all the right notes in the interview room after career victory No. 72 that pushed her past $22 million in winnings - two numbers of silly proportions.

"Like I've said all week, I like this place and love the golf course and just always wanted to play well here," said Sorenstam, who'd finished in the top 12 here three times but never really contended.

"The best players are always here. Kind of our Players Championship.... Winning this tournament is just a wonderful feeling. I think I feel just relieved, I feel peace at myself knowing I can play this golf course. It's great."

Where to begin to validate Sorenstam's latest coronation? Start with this, maybe: three times during Sunday's first 10 holes, plucky South Korean Jeong Jang closed from three shots to two.

Once, a Sorenstam bogey was to blame. Twice, Jang birdied. Immediately, every single time, Sorenstam responded with a birdie to bump her advantage back to three.

"I felt like I've been answering somebody every day, the first two days Lorena (Ochoa) and then today was JJ," Sorenstam said. "Every time I felt like I needed to do it, I did it and, you know, that's a great feeling."

The back nine was nothing more than a stroll down a red carpet for Sorenstam toward... uh, a three-putt bogey on the 18th. But never mind that. Birdies on 10, 13, 14, 15 and 17, fueled by laser-like iron play as in days of yore, had Sorenstam at 37 in touch with her old self.

"I was enjoying it very much," she said. "I'm feeling it. It's turning around. This is what I've been wanting to do.

"You know, going through what I did, you appreciate making cuts, you appreciate being top-10 and having a chance to win.... I know it's tough to win out here, so now I cherish the wins more because I know anything can happen overnight. When you do look back, it's very special."

So, too, is the annual drop-in by Sorenstam, health-willing, and her club-wielding rivals.

No, it isn't the PGA Tour. For that, we can be grateful.

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518 or tom.robinson@pilotonline.com