Sorenstam Wins Nabisco Championship

<br>RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) _ Only after she won the LPGA Tour's first major championship of the year did Annika Sorenstam decide to play it safe. <br><br>The tradition at the Kraft Nabisco Championship

Monday, April 1st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) _ Only after she won the LPGA Tour's first major championship of the year did Annika Sorenstam decide to play it safe.

The tradition at the Kraft Nabisco Championship is for the winner to take a plunge into the pond that surrounds the island green on the 18th hole. Sorenstam dove into water a year ago to celebrate her first major in five years.

She became the first back-to-back winner Sunday at the Nabisco and barely made a ripple, wading into the water with caddie Terry McNamara and his 4-year-old daughter.

``When I watched the tape, I realized that it was a stupid move to dive in not knowing how deep it is,'' Sorenstam said after a one-stroke victory over Liselotte Neumann. ``I just didn't want to make a silly mistake this time.''

Besides, why ruin a perfect day?

Playing with Karrie Webb in the final group for the first time at a major, Sorenstam made quick work of her chief rival with back-to-back birdies early on to take the lead on a blistering hot day in the desert.

Next up was Neumann, a fellow Swede who also started the final round with a share of the lead and remained tied with Sorenstam after a 15-foot birdie on the ninth that made her skip with delight and wonder if this might be her day.

``Annika was one step better,'' Neumann said.

Sorenstam regained the lead with a 7-iron to 3 feet on the 10th hole and never gave Neumann another chance, closing with a bogey-free 68 on the Dinah Shore tournament course at Mission Hills.

``To win another major, which I really wanted badly, feels great,'' said Sorenstam, who finished at 280 for her 33rd victory, and fourth major. ``It was as exciting as it could be.''

Coming off a record-breaking season in which she became the first woman to shoot 59 and the first to earn more than $2 million in one year, Sorenstam proved her desire to be the best is just as strong.

``I'm still pushing myself, still working hard,'' she said. ``Victories like this push me more and make me want to see what else I can win.''

She made a statement in more ways than one.

The large gallery was buzzing all afternoon, as much for Sorenstam's shiny red shoes as the flawless golf she played.

Sorenstam got the shoes Thursday, patent leather slip-ons that looked like they belonged to Dorothy in the ``Wizard of Oz.''

``I was a little scared of putting them on early in the week, but I figured today is the day I've got to go low,'' she said. ``If I'm not afraid to wear these, then I'm not afraid to play.''

The duel with Webb never materialized.

The 27-year-old Aussie only hit three of the first seven greens in regulation, didn't have a birdie putt inside 20 feet on the front nine and failed to record a birdie until No. 16, far too late to apply any pressure.

Rosie Jones, the best woman to have never won a major, holed a 40-foot putt on No. 13 to climb within one of the lead, but that was the end of her charge. She closed with a 69, and tied for third with 24-year-old Cristie Kerr (68) at 282.

Carin Koch and Akiko Fukushima each had a 66 and finished another stroke back, followed by Webb (72) at 284.

The only thing that got the crowd more worked up than Sorenstam's shoes was Lorena Ochoa, the Mexican sensation and star-in-waiting.

Ochoa, a sophomore at Arizona who has won all six of her college tournaments this year, had five birdies, holed an 8-iron from the 16th fairway for eagle, made three bogeys and one double bogey for a 70.

Still, she was low amateur at 285, and her eighth-place finish was the best by an amateur since Caroline Keggi finished fourth in 1988.

``My goal was to win the tournament,'' Ochoa said. ``But top 10 is really good.''

Sorenstam's challenge came from Neumann, who thought her 69 would have been good enough for her first victory in 88 events on the LPGA Tour.

Her lone mistake on the back nine was huge _ a drive into the trees on No. 11, pitching out to the fairway, hitting 5-iron into a greenside bunker and making bogey on the easiest hole on the course, a par 5 reachable in two.

Neumann answered with back-to-back birdies, but her last chance was a 15-foot putt from just on the fringe at No. 18, the putt sliding just left of the cup.

``When I missed the putt on the last hole, you kind of go, 'When am I ever going to be in this position again?' At least now I feel like I'm playing well and hopefully, I'll be here in every major,'' she said.

Neumann was the first Swede to find success on the LPGA Tour, winning the U.S. Women's Open in 1988 when she was 21.

``She was the greatest Swedish player,'' Sorenstam said. ``I remember I was watching at home. I realized that I could come play, and this is what I want to do.''

Right now, no one is doing it better.