Sorenstam Showing She Still Has Fight
Ochoa didn't take the No. 1 ranking away from Sorenstam until last season, but she actually overtook Sorenstam in on-course results in 2006. Then Annika suffered through an injury-marred 2007, while Ochoa burst forward to a new level.
And Lorena is off to a fabulous start in 2008, with four wins. Can anyone catch her? Probably not. But if anyone has a chance, Sorenstam probably has the best chance. And now she has two wins of her own in 2008. Sorenstam won the season-opener in Hawaii, and on Sunday she defeated Paula Creamer in a playoff to win the Stanford International Pro-Am.
It is the 71st LPGA win for Sorenstam (see LPGA career wins list), 17 short of Kathy Whitworth's record.
But before any Annika-holics out there get too excited, note that both Sorenstam's wins this year have come in weeks when Ochoa wasn't playing. Also note that in the four tournaments they've both played, Sorenstam has finished a collective 45 shots behind Ochoa.
See also:
Comments
If there is any stat that would quell all rumours about Annika being able to catch up with Lorena this year is the one where you have rightly pointed out “the four tournaments they’ve both played, Sorenstam has finished a collective 45 shots behind Ochoa.”
So despite Annika’s win she will have to do a lot more to prevent Lorena from steamrolling competition this season. If anything the other ladies must get their act together for next season because as unpredictable a game as golf is, I really don’t see Lorena letting go of the advantage this year. She is the real Tiger on the prowl this season.
Of course having said this, we must remember Annika is returning from injury and she has already notched up two victories in the first four months of this season and the rate at which the LPGA is adding new events it only means more opportunities for the likes of Annika. No harm in finishing second in your “comeback year”.