Another resounding year for Sorenstam

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - And to think Annika Sorenstam once contemplated early retirement.

It was three years ago at the ADT Championship, which has become a season-ending salute to her dominance in women's golf, that Sorenstam dropped a few hints that she might not be around as long as some people think. She mentioned her love of cooking and the stock markets, and how she might want to start a family.

"A few years ago, things were looking a little different and I had some different plans and different goals," Sorenstam said Wednesday. "Then it took a little bit of a spin, and I had to adjust, and here I am a few years later with a different outlook on life and some different goals at the moment."

Sorenstam will wait until the Christmas holidays to reflect on another astounding season - nine victories, two majors and no questions about who rules the LPGA Tour.

But she already ranks this year among her best given the upheaval in her personal life.

Sorenstam's marriage was in jeopardy through most of last season, and she filed for divorce in February. She found refuge inside the ropes, and retirement is no longer on her mind.

"Last year was a big blur," she said of a season in which she won eight times. "I really don't know how I survived a lot of it, and how I was able to focus once I was inside the ropes. This year, I had a little more energy.

"Golf has been my savior, there's no doubt about it. It's great to have something that you enjoy to fall back on. I've spent my time thinking about golf. I've added a few more tournaments. It's been very helpful."

She will try to make it 10 victories when sets out to defend her title in the ADT Championship, which starts Thursday at Trump International for the top 30 players on the money list. Another victory would move her one step closer to a record that she has not fully embraced - the 88 career wins by Kathy Whitworth.

The 35-year-old Swede was not even halfway there when she spoke in 2002 about the possibility of retiring. But having won 23 times since then, her tally is now 65. And a record that once seemed untouchable is now in range.

Sorenstam doesn't see it that way.

She might be the only one who realizes that winning isn't easy.

"If you think of the last few years, then it's realistic," she said. "I don't know if I can keep up the high level of golf. I need to do this for another three, four or five years. I don't know if I could do that. One of the reasons is to push the body so hard. Another reason is, do I want to continue on this pace, that level, week after week?

"Obviously, I'm glad the pace hasn't slowed," she said. "I'm enjoying this ride. It's just... it's not easy. Sometimes I look back and I say, 'How was I able to win nine or 10 this year? To me, it feels so unrealistic to get there."

Sorenstam looks at the record as a long ladder to climb, although she realizes she has taken a lot of steps - nine this year, with one more chance remaining.

Whether anyone can stop her remains to be seen. Paula Creamer, the 19-year-old rookie, comes into the ADT Championship at No. 2 on the money list by nearly $900,000 - the equivalent of about five first-place checks.

"I will do anything that I can to get to that point, and get me to the point where Annika is," Creamer said. "She is just a couple of steps ahead of me. She is the No. 1 player in the world. She has what it takes."

The only disappointment was her failed bid to win the Grand Slam in one season. She captured the Kraft Nabisco Championship by eight shots, and won the LPGA Championship by three shots over Michelle Wie, a tournament that was never in doubt. But she played conservatively at Cherry Hills and never had a chance at the U.S. Women's Open.

She will try again next year.

That is a goal she believes she can reach, one that comes naturally to her.

The career mark is still too much fantasy.

"Goals have to come from within," she said. "Eighty-eight wins is something that is out there and I've just never felt that was reachable. I guess that's why... I'm not so driven to get there. It has not been a natural goal of mine."

It wasn't even fathomable three years ago, when she spoke of retirement. Sorenstam spoke that day of perhaps winning 50 times, which sounded like a good number. Now it's an old number.

But she also talked that day about the one goal that mattered the most to her.

"I don't want somebody to ask, 'How many tournaments did Annika Sorenstam win? I would rather they say she was a great athlete, she loved sportsmanship and she loved what she did," Sorenstam said at the '02 ADT Championship. "If they know my name, then they will know I played good golf."

She is known by her first name alone, and it is associated with winning.

The more she wins, Sorenstam might not have any choice but to make Whitworth's record one of her goals.