She Wins the Numbers Game Too

By Thomas Bonk

June 23, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

DENVER —

When you’ve won six of the eight times you’ve played, it’s statistically a good year, just as it is artistically, so Annika Sorenstam’s start reflects both. Not only has she won both majors this year -- and is trying for her third beginning today at the U.S. Women’s Open -- she has been just as dominating in almost every facet of play on the LPGA Tour.

Sorenstam’s $1.5 million in earnings is close to double the total of second-place Cristie Kerr. She averages $187,904 each tournament she plays, about $100,000 more than Kerr, who has the second-best per tournament average.

Other Sorenstam statistical achievements: She leads the LPGA in driving distance (274.0), rounds under par (26 of 30), rounds in the 60s (22 of 30), top 10s (seven of eight), and eagles (seven in 30 rounds).

And perhaps the most important one: Her 68.60 scoring average is more than two shots better than Kerr’s 70.65. Sorenstam already holds the LPGA record for the lowest scoring average, 68.70, which she set in 2002. She had the same scoring average last year but didn’t win the Vare Trophy because she fell four rounds short of the 70 rounds required to become eligible, so Grace Park’s 69.99 scoring average won.

Michael Campbell made $1.17 million when he won the U.S. Open -- more than double what he has earned on the European Tour this year -- but he also cashed in more because of a clause in his contract with Callaway Golf that, according to insiders, calls for a $500,000 bonus for winning a major.

What’s more, Campbell can make even more if he maintains his ranking -- which moved 57 places this week, from 80th to 23rd -- because he would be eligible to play in the two $7.5-million World Golf Championship tournaments still on the schedule, plus the $6.5-million Tour Championship.

Campbell’s victory at Pinehurst couldn’t have come at a better time for Callaway, which on Tuesday began sales of the Fusion FT-3 driver that Campbell used at the Open. It’s the same driver that Sorenstam and Phil Mickelson use ... and Sorenstam is in the news this week at Cherry Hills.

For a week that began when his car was ransacked and someone stole his underwear, computer and car stereo and his wife’s clothes, it didn’t turn out so badly for Jason Gore at the U.S. Open. If you’re keeping score, he probably did better than break even.

What Gore lost: roughly $680,000, the difference between second-place money and the $20,275 he got for finishing tied for 49th, which is the route he took after shooting an 84 Sunday. Also, he missed chances to play in next year’s U.S. Open (the top 15 are invited) and the Masters (the top eight).

What Gore won: respect, confidence and visibility. And he improved his official world ranking from 818 to 670 -- only 10 places behind David Duval. If Gore can hang tough for three rounds at treacherous Pinehurst No. 2, he ought to make some hay on the Nationwide Tour if there are chances to play, because he doesn’t have an exemption.

Also making rankings news, Retief Goosen’s fourth-round pratfall at Pinehurst moved him closer to No. 6 than No. 3 or No. 4; his lead over sixth-ranked Sergio Garcia is paper-thin, 7.63-7.34. Garcia tied for third at Pinehurst.

The quote of the week is from Olin Browne, whose 80 at Pinehurst on Sunday dropped him out of a tie for second into a tie for 23rd. He was one of nine players who shot at least 80 in the fourth round. Browne earned high marks for his grace under fire.

Said Browne: “This game teaches you to embrace failure because an awful lot of time you’re messing up.”

Ratings update: The final-round coverage of the Open on NBC earned a 5.6 national Nielsen rating, only slightly higher than last year’s 5.5. The audience was 24 million.

Even with Tiger Woods in the hunt, the two-day Nielsen average was 4.8, a decrease from the 5.0 last year when Goosen won at Shinnecock Hills, but a 2% increase from 2003 (4.7), when Jim Furyk won at Olympia Fields.

At the Masters, the two-day average rating was 8.3 on CBS.

Jeff Maggert, Bob Tway, Billy Mayfair and Corey Pavin are among 95 players from the U.S. in the field of 120 that will compete for 12 spots in 36-hole qualifying for the British Open on Monday at Canoe Brook in Summit, N.J. Also in the field are international players Bernhard Langer, Fredrik Jacobson, Justin Rose and Aaron Baddeley. The British Open will be played July 14-17 at St. Andrews.

Ann Meyers, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, James B. Sikking, Wes Parker, Marlin McKeever, Dwight Stones and Tanya Roberts are expected to play in the Bruce Randall Foundation celebrity tournament, hosted by Mark Eaton and Swen Nater, July 11 at Strawberry Farms Golf Course in Irvine. The event benefits the Danbrook Elementary after-school sports program. Details: (760) 632-7770.

This week

USGA

U.S. Women’s Open

* When: Today-Sunday.

* Where: Cherry Hills Country Club (6,749 yards, par 71), Cherry Hills Village, Colo.

* Purse: $3.1 million. Winner’s share: $560,000.

* TV: ESPN2 (today-Friday, 2-6 p.m.; Monday, if necessary, 9 a.m.) and Channel 4 (Saturday, noon-3 p.m.; Sunday, noon-3:30 p.m.).

* 2004 winner: Meg Mallon.

* Next week: HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship in Gladstone, N.J.

PGA TOUR

Barclays Classic

* When: Today-Sunday.