Sorenstam Wins 8th LPGA Tour Title

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ Annika Sorenstam won her eighth LPGA Tour title of the year Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 to hold off Kate Golden by a stroke in the Safeway Classic. <br><br>The Swedish star

Sunday, September 15th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ Annika Sorenstam won her eighth LPGA Tour title of the year Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 to hold off Kate Golden by a stroke in the Safeway Classic.

The Swedish star has 10 worldwide victories this year, winning three straight events entering the Solheim Cup matches between Europe and the United States in Minnesota. She won the Compaq Open in Sweden on Aug. 18 and returned to the tour last week to win the Williams Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

``When you sit and add them all up, I'm really amazed at what I've done,'' Sorenstam said.

She made an 11-foot birdie putt on the final hole to take a brief two-stroke lead over Golden, who went on to make a 10-foot birdie putt. After Sorenstam's putt fell, she raised her hands to her head in relief and nodded to the cheering gallery.

Sorenstam earned $150,000 for her 39th LPGA Tour victory to break her own single-season tour record with $2,211,991 in 17 events. She set the record last year with $2,105,868 in 26 events, when she also won eight times and became the first female player to shoot a 59 in official competition.

Sorenstam, who had a course-record 10-under 62 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round, finished with a 17-under 199 total at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Golden, who overcame a six-stroke deficit to Sorenstam last September in the final round of the State Farm Classic en route to her first LPGA Tour title, shot a bogey-free 65.

Under mostly cloudy conditions and the threat of showers, Sorenstam was solid yet uninspired _ especially on the back nine. On the par-5 12th hole, she hit her second shot into a greenside bunker, overshot a 10-foot birdie try and settled for par.

The Swede dropped a shot with a bogey on the par-4 15th, cutting her lead over Golden to one stroke. And it came down to her birdie on the final hole.

``I felt really good after 10. I thought I could just play it safe for a while,'' Sorenstam said. ``But that didn't last long.''

Rosie Jones, a U.S. Solheim Cup player, closed with a 68 to tie for third with Karen Stupples (70) at 12-under 204, and fellow U.S. team members Michele Redman (66) and Emilee Klein (68) tied for fifth at 9-under 207.

With her consecutive eight-victory seasons, Sorenstam is the first player to win that many in a season since Nancy Lopez won nine times in 1978 and eight times in 1979.

Lopez, playing her final full season on the tour, missed the cut with rounds of 74 and 76. The Hall of Famer won in Portland in 1985, '87 and '92, and teamed with Jo Ann Washam to win the unofficial 1979 event.