Ten years after winning her second United States Women's
Open Championship, Callaway Golf (NYSE:ELY) Staff Professional Annika
Sorenstam yesterday added her third, crafting a brilliant 1-under-par
70 at the Newport Country Club to defeat Pat Hurst by four strokes in
an 18-hole playoff.
The margin of victory was the largest in a U.S. Women's Open
playoff in 50 years.
The victory gave Sorenstam, 35, her 10th career major title, tying
her with Babe Didrickson Zaharias for fourth on the career list and
moving her within five of Patty Berg's all-time total. It also marks
the sixth consecutive season in which Sorenstam has won a major
championship, the second-longest stretch in LPGA history.
As she has in each of her professional victories, Sorenstam again
relied on Callaway Golf(R) equipment to make history -- including the
Big Bertha(R) Fusion(R) FT-3(TM) Driver, X-18(R) Irons, X Tour 3-wood,
Big Bertha 7-wood, and Callaway Golf Forged+ Wedges (48 and 54
degrees), the new HX(R) Tour Golf Ball and an Odyssey(R) White Hot(R)
2-Ball Blade Putter. She also wore Callaway Golf Footwear with the
patented Big Bertha Spike.
"It's awesome, really," said a relieved Sorenstam. "What a great
week and a great finish. I was talking to myself out there so much
today that people probably think I'm a little weird. I just kept
telling myself to just play my game. This is fantastic. It's been a
long wait, and a long road. On the way, I've learned a lot. The way
this season has gone, kind of up and down, to win the Open is pretty
ironic."
Sorenstam set the bar very high for herself by making her first
tournament victory a win at the 1995 U.S. Women's Open and she
followed it up with a win her second U.S. Open title the following
year. She has compiled a total of 68 victories in her Hall of Fame
career, and now edges one step closer to Mickey Wright (82) and Kathy
Whitworth (88) on the all-time victory list.
Sorenstam birdied two of the first three holes yesterday to open a
three-stroke lead that widened to five strokes when her competitor
double-bogeyed the sixth and bogeyed the ninth. In an exceptional
display of tee-to-green consistency, Sorenstam played the back nine in
even par to lock up the championship.
Through an unwavering commitment to innovation, Callaway Golf
creates products and services designed to make every golfer a better
golfer. Callaway Golf Company manufactures and sells golf clubs and
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visit www.callawaygolf.com.
