Sorenstam’s goal is clear: Another LPGA money title

Monday, Nov. 17, 1997 | 12:47 p.m.

Annika Sorenstam has one LPGA Tour money title to her credit, having "happened" upon the earnings crown in 1995. But the 27-year-old Swede wants to earn it this year.

"After I won it in 1995, at the time it felt like it just kind of happened, I wasn't in control that year," Sorenstam said. "But this year, I felt like I was ready to do it and I wanted to do it. It's very important -- it has been one of my goals all year."

Sorenstam will try to realize that goal when she and the other top 30 money winners tee it up in the $750,000 ITT LPGA Tour Championship beginning Thursday at the Desert Inn Golf Club.

Sorenstam swept the three major season-ending titles in 1995, capturing the money title, the player of the year award and the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average, and is in position to repeat the feat this season.

Coming into the Tour Championship, Sorenstam is the leading money winner with $1,076,789, leads Karrie Webb in the player of the year standings (253 points to 201.99) and trails Webb by the slightest of margins (70.08 to 70.01) in the Vare Trophy rankings for scoring average.

Sorenstam feels there is a strong rivalry developing between her and Webb, which she draws upon for motivation.

"I feel like it is (building)," Sorenstam said of the rivalry with the 22-year-old Australian, who won last year's Tour Championship and money title. "I get along with Karrie pretty good -- I mean, we don't spend a lot of time together or anything like that -- but I personally feel like it's growing.

"I have a lot of respect for Karrie. She's really young, but she has so much experience and she's very talented that I really look up to her as somebody that I like to beat. To me, it's always been a motivation. To be the best, I've got to beat the best."

There hasn't been anyone better than Sorenstam on the LPGA Tour this year. She has a tour-leading five wins -- two more than Webb -- and comes into the Tour Championship playing what she calls her best golf.

"It's been an incredible year for me; I'm really excited the way I've played," said Sorenstam, who opened the season by winning two of the first five events and had three wins by the first week of April.

"Sometimes it feels like you get off to a good start and it's kind of hard to keep that going, but I felt like this year I've been really consistent throughout the year, so I'm really excited about that."

Sorenstam, who finished third on the money list last year, credits her work on her short game for coming back with another solid season.

"The last two years, I've worked a lot on my short game (because) I felt like I needed to," she said. "My long game has always been there. But when I did miss the green, I needed to know that I could make up and down.

"I just think all the pieces of my game have come together. Success early in the year just really helped me to give me a lot of confidence. I knew that if I played well, I'd be up there (and) if I didn't play as well, I still had a chance for a top 20. It's a lot of fun when you know that your game is there and you know you can do it."

Sorenstam, who has 11 victories since joining the LPGA Tour in 1994, said she has surprised herself by her rapid success.

"When I turned pro, I didn't really know what it was going to be like," said the two-time U.S. Women's Open winner. "All I was concerned about was my game, how I was going to play and am I good enough and so forth. But after winning the U.S. Open in 1995, things happened so quickly.

"Overall, I'm amazed that I've been able to improve so much since college."

In addition to improving her short game, Sorenstam also has added some length off the tee since last season -- something she said she hopes will help her this week on the long Desert Inn tract.

"If I remember correctly, last year the course was playing pretty long and Karrie is a long hitter," Sorenstam said. "The greens were pretty firm and she puts a lot of spin on the ball so that's going to help her when she's hitting a 5-iron into the greens. Laura (Davies, another big hitter) played well there, too.

"I felt like this year I've gained some distance, especially off the tee, and maybe that could help me also. This year, I averaged 250, 252 (yards) and last year I was 245 -- that's almost a club difference. I still feel like I have the accuracy there ... so maybe that could help me."