Six Shooter

In this neck of the woods, where history drops from the trees like so many pine cones, where Colonial times run into Revolutionary War sites and straight into Civil War battlefields, there’s no time like the present for a chance at running into some more.

No one has won six consecutive LPGA Tour events, but Annika Sorenstam has a chance to do that when the $2.2-million Michelob Ultra Open begins today at Kingsmill.

It should be a microwave-on-high moment for Sorenstam, but she isn’t exactly wilting under the pressure. On Wednesday, she joked her way through the pro-am, playing in a group that included corporate executives and LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw. Afterward, Votaw revealed that Sorenstam didn’t offer him any tips.

“But she did tell me to get out of her way several times,” Votaw said.

When Sorenstam played her practice round Tuesday, her agent walked the first nine holes with her, she shook hands with executives from Genworth Financial at the back of the fourth green, signed autographs as she went from green to tee, took a break for a sandwich at the turn, and then, with a smile, headed out again.

Here’s what she is looking for: history.

Nancy Lopez shares the LPGA record with Sorenstam of five consecutive victories, a mark that has stood for 27 years, since Lopez won five tournaments in a six-week stretch of her rookie year.

Sorenstam’s streak is vastly different, a five-tournament string that began in September at the Mizuno Classic in Japan.

Byron Nelson won 11 consecutive tournaments in 1945, but Sorenstam can match the six that only two others have reached, Ben Hogan in 1948 and Tiger Woods in 1999-2000.

Sorenstam sat back and relaxed in a soft chair Wednesday afternoon, then declared herself ready to deal into this high-stakes game. There is no pressure, she said, only an opportunity.

“I love it,” Sorenstam said. “This is what keeps me motivated and going. I love the chance. It has a meaning other than just trying to finish good in a week. That I can make history, I love that. That is fun pressure.

“If I don’t do it, then that is unfortunate. I will not go home and cry and be disappointed. Not a lot of people have this chance.”

Sorenstam has played -- and won -- three tournaments this year, but none since taking her eighth major title, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which ended March 27.

It has taken that long to add up what she had been up to. At Mission Hills, she played the last 39 holes without a bogey. She was 10 under par for the weekend. She outdrove Rosie Jones, the runner-up, by an average of 41 yards and missed one green Sunday.

Sorenstam, 34, has not only won five in a row, but also seven of her last nine. Since the start of the 2004 season, she has won 11 of 21 tournaments and was second in four others.

She hasn’t missed a cut since the British Open in July 2002. She is working on a stretch of 43 rounds at par or better, dating to June.

She is a combined 68 under in her five-tournament streak.

Since Sorenstam won three times in her second year on the tour in 1995, she has won 56 more, and her total of 59 is one behind Patty Berg for third place in LPGA history.

According to Votaw, it’s a record of dominance that comes close to standing alone.

“Quite possibly, what she’s done since her rookie year, is one of the great achievements in competitive sports,” he said.

“I tell people, if you ever kicked yourself for not seeing Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Nolan Ryan or Sandy Koufax in their prime, you should come out and watch Annika Sorenstam, because you’re seeing one of the players who play their sport at a level you see once in a lifetime.”

Meanwhile, the players who are lining up to block Sorenstam’s path express admiration for her accomplishments, but vow not to get out of the way in this streak thing. The field includes 49 of the top 50 players on this year’s money list.

“I’m sure she wants to continue her streak, but I want to start my own streak,” Grace Park said. “I’ve worked hard to get here.”

Se Ri Pak, the defending champion, said Sorenstam changed the physical training habits of many players with her personal example of an improved fitness routine. As for Sorenstam’s exploits on the golf course, Pak could only shake her head.

“This year, I don’t know how we’re going to catch Annika,” she said.

They will begin today on the pine-tree-lined fairways and massive greens of Kingsmill Resort & Spa, which was reworked in time for the tournament. This is the third year the LPGA has held a tournament on the 6,306-yard River Course layout, which used to be part of the PGA Tour rotation.

Sorenstam, who played with an executive from tournament sponsor Michelob, was quick with an answer when asked what she did during her five-week break.

“Drink beer, I guess,” she joked.

Chances are it wasn’t all jokes and grins for Sorenstam, who has filed for divorce from her husband.

“On the golf course, it hasn’t affected her,” said Mark Steinberg, Sorenstam’s agent at IMG. “She’s always done an unbelievable job of focusing on the present and at one task at hand. Quite honestly, inside these ropes is a safe haven. It’s peaceful for her, however great or not so great her home life is.

“It’s been tough on her.”

It wasn’t easy on Sorenstam when she played the Colonial on the PGA Tour in 2003, where she missed the cut but attracted media attention worldwide. That experience prepared her for her task this week, she said.

“I learned so much about the Colonial and the preparation and everything around it,” Sorenstam said. “I think coming in, I am more prepared. I dealt with it before and I know how to react. Now, I am on my tour, I know what I am doing here.”

The comparisons between Sorenstam’s streak and what Lopez accomplished in 1978 are difficult because of the vastly different time frames in which the streaks were made. But the numbers can be compared.

Sorenstam’s cumulative 68 under is favorable to the 39 under for Lopez in her streak. Sorenstam won $1.025 million, Lopez $73,500. Sorenstam averaged 68.22 to Lopez’ 69.88 and had 12 rounds in the 60s compared with seven for Lopez.

But the most impressive part of Sorenstam’s five-tournament streak might be her margin of victory, not including playoffs, an average of 6.7 shots. Lopez won by an average of 3.5 shots.

In Votaw’s view, it’s futile to compare the streaks, in large part because Sorenstam’s has come over six months and Lopez got hers in six weeks.

But Sorenstam’s achievement is tough to argue with, he said. “I don’t care what the time frame, it’s pretty doggone impressive. Annika has been the face of women’s golf for at least the last five years.”

With more than $16 million in prize money, Sorenstam has been a success in the boardroom too. Her endorsements include Mercedes-Benz, Oakley, Cutter & Buck, Rolex, Kraft and ADT. She recently extended her contract with Callaway Golf, a deal for more than $1 million a year.

Steinberg said Sorenstam is at capacity in the endorsement game.

“There’s not enough space on her golf bag or shirt,” he said.

When she begins her quest for her sixth consecutive victory, Sorenstam knows she is entering uncharted territory.

Maybe she will be able to fall back on her uncanny ability to focus and to stay in the moment. Perhaps she will call upon her powers of concentration and remain unshakable inside the ropes.

All Sorenstam said Wednesday was that she would try her best, something that has turned out to be unbeatable, at least since September.

In the last five weeks, since she won at Mission Hills, Sorenstam has had a lot of time to turn over the streak in her mind and to share, just for a brief moment, a date with history:

“I was thinking that I have a chance to do something that no one else has done.”

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The streak

In 1978, Nancy Lopez won five consecutive tournaments. Annika Sorenstam will try to win her sixth tournament in a row starting today in the Michelob Ultra Open in Williamsburg, Va.:

*--* Date Tournament Final score Runner-up Nov. Mizuno Classic (Japan) 22 under Cristie Kerr 5-7 * Open ed with a 63, clos ed with a 65, won by nine shot s and won the tour name nt for the four th time in a row. The only othe r LPGA play er to do that is Laur a Davi es. Date Final score Runner-up Nov. ADT Classic (W. Palm Beach, Fla.) 13 under Cristie Kerr 18-2 1 * Won on the firs t play off hole when Cris tie Kerr hit her appr oach shot into the wate r. Sore nsta m had the lead by hers elf afte r the firs t thre e roun ds. Date Final score Runner-up Marc MasterCard Classic (Mexico City) 7 under Karrie Webb h 4-6 * In her firs t tour name nt of the year , Sore nsta m bird ied five of the firs t six hole s in the fina l roun d to quic kly turn a thre e-sh ot defi cit into a thre e-sh ot lead . Date Final score Runner-up Marc Safeway International (Phoenix) 11 under Lorena Ochoa h 17-2 0 * Lore na Ocho a had a four -sho t lead with thre e hole s to go, but she made doub le boge y on No. 16, then hit her driv e into the wate r on the firs t play off hole . Date Final score Runner-up Marc Kraft Nabisco Champ. (Rancho Mirage) 15 under Rosie Jones h 24-2 7 * Afte r an eigh t-sh ot win for the eigh th majo r titl e of her care er, Sore nsta m jump ed into the pond at the 18th gree n with her cadd ie, her moth er and her sist er.

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Source: Newport News (Va.) Daily Press and Los Angeles Times