Is Sorenstam the greatest of all time?

BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2002 ADT Championship | Wrap | 25 Nov 2002

The final official event of the year for the USLPGA was always shaping up as a beauty. Sorenstam aiming for eleven wins this year, Webb looking, to regain some of the ground she has lost to Sorenstam since her defeat at Royal Pines in March, Se Ri Pak looking to consolidate her place as the world’s unofficial number two and the others well, I guess they saw and opportunity to create what would have been an upset.

The ADT Tour Championship held at the Trump International Golf Club at West Palm Beach in Florida for the last two years, carries a purse of $US1,000,000 for the thirty leading players from this year’s money list. Last year Webb had won but this year has seen dominance by Sorenstam seldom seen in the history of the game. Only Mickey Wright had previously won eleven in a season, that being a year after she had won 13 in 1963.

Sorenstam would go past $US2,860,000 with the win but first she had to do it. She started well with a first round 67 to share the lead, then led on her own into round three. It was then that Rachel Teske emerged as a likely challenger to Sorenstam with a third round 68 that left her in the lead by a shot from Sorenstam and Webb who was looking to finish off an ordinary year, by her standards, in style.

Webb birdied the second to actually take the lead but a horror run of holes was to follow. She bogeyed the par five third, birdied the fourth, but bogeyed the fifth and then completed the damage with a double at the sixth. By then she had slipped behind both Teske and Sorenstam and that was effectively the end of her challenge.

Sorenstam and Teske however were producing a titanic duel and when Teske reached the par three seventeenth they were locked at twelve under par. Sorenstam playing ahead of Teske had birdied the hole and Teske perhaps pressing too hard ended with a sidehill lie next to a hazard and took double bogey. With the resulting three shot swing Sorenstam was able to cruise to victory.

For Teske disappointment perhaps but the second placed cheque for $US115, 000, has her inside the top ten on the USLPGA Tour for the first time in her career, suggesting a growing consistency for the Queenslander which included eight top tens.

For Sorenstam well what can you say? This is the first time a lady has finished a season on the LPGA Tour with a scoring average below 69 (she had 68.7) and the run of wins is almost impossible to comprehend in modern golf. Throw in the two wins away from the USLPGA Tour in Australian and Sweden then it is fair to say she has “done ok”.

The event brought to a close the season for 2002 and the money list has Sorenstam ahead by $1,140,000 over Pak who earned $US1,722,000 with Inkster the next best at $US1,160,000.

Webb was the leading Australasian with $1,009,000 in fifth place and Teske ninth. Both Shani Waugh and Michelle Ellis hardly moving from their 25th and 26th places although both have had outstanding years.

For most of this field, the next time we see them in action will be here in Australia for the ANZ Australian Ladies Masters and then the AAMI Australian Ladies Open. For Annika Sorenstam she leaves us pondering whether she is the greatest lady golfer of all time. Hard to argue against it.