At the Top Of Her Game

By Mitch Frank

Tiger Woods has won 42 PGA events during his years on the tour, and Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson have each won 25.

Big deal. Annika Sorenstam has notched 59 LPGA tournament victories in her 11-year career, including five in a row since last November. Sure, the men's tour has its rivalries, but the LPGA's greatest player ever is still in her prime. And she's enjoying it.

Sorenstam spent Easter Sunday taking a swim. The Swede celebrated victory at the Kraft Nabisco championship, the first LPGA major tournament of the year, by taking the traditional winner's jump into the lake just off the 18th green at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Her mother, sister and caddie all followed. Sorenstam, 34, smashed the field, winning by eight strokes. "I felt like I was in control all week," she said after drying off. "There are tournaments where I've hit the ball better, but this is as solid as I've played in a long time." No one in women's golf has won five in a row since Nancy Lopez did it in 1978.

Her competitors can't hope that she'll let up either. Sorenstam has been more aggressive lately. Early in her career, she tended to wilt in major tournaments, but not anymore. In the previous two seasons, she skipped several events and hinted that she might retire and start a family. But in February she filed for divorce from her husband David Esch. She admits her focus has changed.

That's good news for the LPGA. Ratings and fan interest have improved but still lag behind those of the men's tour. Two years ago, everyone was talking about teen phenom Michelle Wie, but at 15 she's still struggling to find consistency. Why wait for Wie to become the "next Tiger" when Sorenstam is perhaps playing above Tiger's level now? --By Mitch Frank