Sorenstam wins 10th LPGA Tour title of the year

<br>OTSU, Japan (AP) _ Annika Sorenstam didn't let a cold affect her bid to become the LPGA Tour's first 10-time winner in 34 years. <br><br>In fact, she used her weakened condition as a swing

Sunday, November 10th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OTSU, Japan (AP) _ Annika Sorenstam didn't let a cold affect her bid to become the LPGA Tour's first 10-time winner in 34 years.

In fact, she used her weakened condition as a swing aid.

``There's an expression, 'Watch out for the sick player,''' said Sorenstam, her voice reduced to a whisper. ``In my case, sometimes it's good because I don't swing too hard, and swing smoothly. When I don't play well, it's when I'm trying to swing too hard. When I play like this, I don't swing hard.''

The Swedish star birdied the two closing par-5 holes Sunday for a 5-under 67 and 15-under 201 total, giving her a two-stroke margin over South Korea's Grace Park.

``I feel better than I sound,'' Sorenstam said. ``I told my caddie, Terry McNamara, today that I'm in the position that I want to be in and that this is what I've been waiting for _ to win my 10th.

``I said that I'm going to do everything I can and nothing is going to stop me. I saved my energy and hardly talked to Terry at all. I just wanted to make sure I had enough energy to do what I had to do.''

She's the first player to win 10 times in a season since Kathy Whitworth and Carol Mann in 1968. Mickey Wright reached double figures four times, setting the record with 13 victories in 1963 and winning 11 times in 1964.

``I set high goals for myself, but sometimes you wonder if you can achieve them,'' Sorenstam said. ``Here I am and I've definitely achieved one of my goals. I feel like crying in a way, but I'm so happy that I feel like jumping high.''

She soared above her rivals all week on the Seta course's four par-5 holes, carding an eagle and three birdies in each of the final two rounds and finishing the tournament 12 under on the four long holes.

She eagled the par-5 sixth _ hitting a 4-wood approach to 12 feet on the 483-yard hole _ immediately after skulling a bunker shot over the fifth green en route to a double-bogey that dropped her a shot behind South Korea's Se Ri Pak.

``I said, `Let's get it back, nothing's going to stop me,''' Sorenstam recalled. ``I killed my drive, hit a good shot up to the green and made a good putt for eagle.''

She added a 5-foot birdie putt on the seventh to move a stroke ahead of Pak and three ahead of Park, and got to 13 under with a 10-footer on No. 10. After six straight pars, Sorenstam hit another 4-wood solid approach to set up a two-putt birdie on the 476-yard 17th, and closed with an 11-foot birdie putt on the 540-yard 18th.

The 32-year-old Swede earned $169,500 for her 41st LPGA Tour victory to push her record total to $2,648,904, with just the ADT Championship left. She also won events in Australia and Sweden, giving her 12 worldwide victories in 24 starts this year.

Park, the winner last week in the World Ladies Match Play Championship in Narita, shot a 68. She was forced to play with an old driver after her new model was broken on the bus ride to the golf course.

``My caddie caught an earlier bus, and when he tapped me on the shoulder and told me, I was upset,'' Park said. ``I tried to forget about it, but when I got on the course and saw it not going straight, it was tough. ... It was a different shaft, a different clubhead and the feel was different. I couldn't get anything straight out of it.''

Pak, a five-time winner this year, finished third at 12 under, matching Sorenstam and Canada's Lorie Kane for the best round of the day. South Korea's Gloria Park (71) was 10 under, and Kane, the 2000 winner on the Seta course, was another stroke back along with Japan's Kasumi Fujii (69).

The tournament ended the money race for spots in the 30-player ADT Championship on Nov. 21-24 at Trump International in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Dorothy Delasin dropped from 30th to 31st on the money list, but got the last spot in the field because South Korea's Hee-Won Han has decided to skip the season-ending tournament. Delasin earned $5,848 for a 38th-place finish to edge Sweden's Liselotte Neumann by $660 for the final spot. Neumann tied for seventh to earn $28,430.