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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Win No. 71 for Annika as she
beats Paula in a play-off

FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
It may have taken a one-hole, sudden-death playoff, but Annika Sorenstam (68-67-70-70=275, -8) became the second multiple winner on the LPGA Tour this season, winning the Stanford International Pro-Am and simultaneously punching her ticket to the season-ending ADT Championship.
The 71-time LPGA Tour winner outlasted five-time winner Paula Creamer (68-71-67-69=275, -8) in the first play-off of the season, improving her career play-off record to 16-6. It was the first play-off of Creamer's four-year LPGA Tour career.
“I thought I played very well, and so did Paula. She played excellent. I know it came down to the last, well, it took 19 holes to separate us. It could have gone really any way,” Sorenstam said. “I'm just fortunate that this time it was my turn, and I'm going cherish this moment. Like I said, I felt like I played well the whole week. This is a big tournament on our schedule, and it meant a lot to me to come down the stretch there and hit some really crucial shots and finish strong.”
Trailing by one stroke at the start of the round, Creamer quickly amassed a one-stroke lead over Sorenstam by carding back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes of the Soffer Course at Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club, Aventura, Florida.
Sorenstam knotted the leaderboard with a birdie on the sixth hole, and jumped ahead as Creamer bogeyed the next. The “Pink Panther” and “Ms. 59” traded birdies on the ninth and 10th holes, but Creamer's birdie on the 11th put both players at 9-under.
Sorenstam bogeyed the 13th hole, and Creamer maintained her one-stroke lead until she followed with her second bogey of the day on the par-3, 144-yard 17th hole, which led to the play-off.
Sorenstam clinched win No. 71 with a tap-in for par, while Creamer made bogey.
“It's incredibly disappointing. You know, I had the lead for quite a while out there, and then I bogeyed and she had a birdie in there. It's very disappointing,” Creamer said.
“But at the same time, I'm going against on of the best players in the world that's ever to play golf. There's a lot to learn from that. This is was my first play-off as a professional, and probably the most nervous I've ever been.”
.LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member Karrie Webb (73-69-70-64=276, -7) fired a tournament-low 7-under-par 64 in the final round of the Stanford International Pro-Am to propel herself to a season-best tie for third-place and $117,224 paycheck.
The 35-time Tour winner entered Sunday's final round at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club tied for 10th place, but she lit the course up early with five consecutive birdies on the second through sixth holes of the par-71 Soffer Course.
Webb made the turn at 5-under 31, and added birdies on the 11th, 12th and 16th holes, with her lone blemish occurring on the par-4, 408-yard 14th hole.
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