Sorenstam relishes career Grand Slam

Louise Suggs, an LPGA Tour founder and the first woman to complete the Grand Slam, was among those who worried that Annika Sorenstam would bring harm to women's golf if she failed miserably at the Colonial.

Three months later, the 79-year-old Suggs was glued to the television as she watched Sorenstam step to the 18th tee at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, tied for the lead at the Women's British Open with no less than the career Grand Slam riding on her tee shot.

The swing was as smooth as ever, even under the stifling pressure. The result was a routine par and a one-stroke victory.

"I think she was so intent on winning this week," Suggs said Monday. "She willed herself to do it. That just seems to be the attitude she has."

The LPGA Tour still has a dozen tournaments remaining, plus the Solheim Cup, but Sorenstam already has accomplished what she set out to do this year.

She wanted to see how her game stacked up against the best, so she took on the spotlight by playing in the Colonial in May and produced respectable rounds of 71-74 to miss the cut by four shots.

Through it all, the priority was to win majors.

"I think I've become a better player since the Colonial for different reasons," she said. "I've experienced a lot of pressure, and that's what you experience in a day like today. I've said it before: The more you do it, the better you will get at it."

First came the LPGA Championship, where Sorenstam hit two flawless shots in a playoff to beat Grace Park. Then came the Women's British Open, where three tough pars at the end gave her a one-stroke victory over Se Ri Pak.

"All my goals are coming true," Sorenstam said.

Her banner year comes down to two tee shots.

One of them made her a novelty in Texas, a 4-wood that found the 10th fairway at Colonial Country Club and put her into history as the first woman in 58 years to compete on the PGA Tour.

The other made her a Grand Slam champion in England.

Tied for the lead on the 72nd hole, Pak drove with a 3-wood to avoid the bunkers and found one anyway. Sorenstam thought of being even more conservative with a 7-wood. Aggressive by nature -- that cost her a chance at the U.S. Women's Open only a month earlier -- she opted for driver and hit it long and straight.

"It was really the key shot of the day," she said.

Next up for Sorenstam is the Solheim Cup in September in her native Sweden, where Europe will try to regain the cup. Sorenstam lost a pivotal singles match to Wendy Ward last year in Minnesota.

Her biggest highlight of the year comes in October, when Sorenstam is inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Will she be inducted as the woman who wanted to prove herself against the men, or the winner of 56 tournaments around the world and the sixth woman to complete the career Grand Slam?

"I think the Colonial will fade quicker than the Grand Slam," Suggs said. "People have this thing about the slam. Look at Tiger, when he won four majors in a row. I think more women will play against the men as time goes on, and she was the first shot out of the bucket, so to speak."

Suggs, outspoken even as she approaches her 80th birthday, was concerned about Sorenstam playing at the Colonial. She never expected Sorenstam to make the cut, but worried that a poor performance would severely damage the credibility of women's golf.

The year could not have worked out any better for Sorenstam, or women's golf.

"What can I say? She's done ... a lot -- not only for women's golf, but golf in general," Suggs said. "She's a strong-willed person. I really didn't think she would be capable of doing all this when I first saw her play, but she made a believer out of me."

The celebration Sunday night was at a rented house near Lytham featuring friends, a nice dinner and champagne. An aspiring cook, Sorenstam said she would be given the night off -- her sister would prepare the meal.

Sorenstam has dropped subtle hints over the last couple of years that she might not stick around the LPGA Tour as long as everyone thinks. There are other challenges to pursue -- culinary or perhaps even children -- and she wants to devote her attention exclusively to that.

But after a career Grand Slam, she began setting her sights on the calendar Grand Slam.

There is nothing to suggest it can't be done.

She came up two shots short at the Nabisco Championship, and missed the playoff by one shot in the U.S. Women's Open, taking a bogey on the par-5 18th hole. In the last eight majors, Sorenstam finished fourth or better seven times, the exception coming last year when she missed the cut at the Women's British Open.

"There's a lot of 'ifs' and 'would' and so forth, but I'm right there," Sorenstam said. "My goal has been to get better in the majors, and I really think I have."