Lpga Championship

Anna Nordqvist may be a rookie on the LPGA tour, but she's already showing a flair for the dramatic and a touch of the clutch. For the second straight day, the 22-year-old Swede sank a long birdie putt on her final hole. For the second straight day, it was the margin of difference at the top of the leaderboard in the McDonald's LPGA Championship.

RANCHO MIRAGE -- Suzann Pettersen, who runs turns 32 on Sunday, is tied for third midway through the third round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA's first major of the season. Pettersen has been runner-up in this event three times but has never won it. She's a six-time member of the European Solheim Cup team and has a one major title, the LPGA Championship. Pettersen, of Norway, finished her round of five-under 67 with birdies on the last four holes. "I played really solid today," Pettersen said.

Soaked in champagne and poised to become the first American ranked first in the world, Cristie Kerr was left amazed and nearly speechless after completing one of the most dominating performances at the LPGA Championship — and any other major, for that matter. "It's a dream performance," Kerr said Sunday after winning her second major title by a whopping 12 strokes at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y. "It's like you wake up or you dream — I can't even speak right now."

Jane Blalock won a tournament at Mission Hills Country Club out in the desert in Rancho Mirage 39 years ago. The winner's check was for $20,000, five times more than any other event on the LPGA Tour at the time. "It seems like yesterday," Blalock said this week. "And oh, my gosh, imagine what it was like. The next-largest check that year was for $5,000. Imagine that difference today, it would be like having a $10-million tournament. " That little tournament in the desert was launched by entertainer Dinah Shore, and her star power thrust women's golf into the mainstream.

A perfect shot was part of a perfect day for Jane Geddes, the leader after the first round of the LPGA Championship at Wilmington, Del. Geddes made her third career hole in one, a six-iron from 158 yards, and birdied her final two holes for a five-under-par 66 on Thursday and a two-stroke lead over some of the biggest names in women's golf. Karrie Webb wasn't among them.

Annika Sorenstam turned her head and studied the large leaderboard behind the green on her last hole Thursday in the LPGA Championship, seeing her name in a familiar position at the top. It didn't stay there long, but it was never far away. Natalie Gulbis rose to the occasion of playing with Sorenstam by closing with five consecutive birdies, including an 18-foot putt on the ninth hole, for a five-under-par 67 at Havre de Grace, Md.

Holding an eight-stroke lead and 18 holes away from a second major title, Cristie Kerr wasn't about to declare victory in the LPGA Championship. "I can sit here and say, 'Give me the trophy now.' But it's not going to happen," Kerr said after shooting a 69 Saturday. "I've got one more round of golf to play." Kerr's focus was on display during a rain-soaked round at the Locust Hill Country Club in Pitttsford, N.Y., where she went to 13-under 203 entering the final round Sunday.

Betsy King and Alice Ritzman stepped forward to represent the old guard, and Brandie Burton and Donna Andrews did their part for the youth movement in Thursday's opening round of the LPGA Championship at Bethesda, Md. All four shot three-under-par 68s to share the lead after one trip over the 6,246-yard Bethesda Country Club course. Amy Alcott and Jan Stephenson were among eight players one shot back.

Patty Sheehan won the LPGA Championship a third time, scrambling for par on the 18th hole to close out a two-under-par 69 for a one-stroke victory over Lauri Merten Sunday at Bethesda, Md. Sheehan, who in March secured a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame with her 30th tour victory, has won 31 times, and she insists she is not through. "Look at the problems Pat (Bradley) is having," Sheehan said. "She won 30 and really hasn't done much since. I think she lost her motivation.

Beth Daniel topped a short list of survivors Friday at the LPGA Championship, making a birdie on her last hole to escape with a one-under-par 70 and a two-stroke lead over Karrie Webb at Wilmington, Del. Daniel, the only player to break par in both rounds at punishing DuPont Country Club, was at 137 and had the 36-hole lead at a major championship for the first time in 10 years. Only four players remained under par entering the weekend--Daniel, Webb, Se Ri Pak and Carin Koch.

In the world of professional golf, the LPGA Tour is the runt of the litter. Even more so now. Annika Sorenstam is gone. She won so much for so long and did so in such a cool, collected way that whatever limited fan base the tour had, she made it larger. Lorena Ochoa is gone. She won so much in such a short time, and did so in such a cool, collected way that whatever fan base Sorenstam had grown, Ochoa grew it more. Clearly, for those dozens who care, the LPGA needs a new leading lady.

Call off the search party for America's top LPGA talent. With Paula Creamer now holding the U.S. Women's Open trophy and Cristie Kerr's record LPGA Championship romp, American women have produced a ringing response to the APB sent out after failing to win any of the season's first eight events. "It's great to see another American win," Kerr told reporters as Creamer wrapped up her four-stroke victory. "I think we can all finally stop answering, 'When are the Americans going to come up to the challenge?

Soaked in champagne and poised to become the first American ranked first in the world, Cristie Kerr was left amazed and nearly speechless after completing one of the most dominating performances at the LPGA Championship — and any other major, for that matter. "It's a dream performance," Kerr said Sunday after winning her second major title by a whopping 12 strokes at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y. "It's like you wake up or you dream — I can't even speak right now."

Holding an eight-stroke lead and 18 holes away from a second major title, Cristie Kerr wasn't about to declare victory in the LPGA Championship. "I can sit here and say, 'Give me the trophy now.' But it's not going to happen," Kerr said after shooting a 69 Saturday. "I've got one more round of golf to play." Kerr's focus was on display during a rain-soaked round at the Locust Hill Country Club in Pitttsford, N.Y., where she went to 13-under 203 entering the final round Sunday.

Cristie Kerr shot a four-under-par 68 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead with Stacy Lewis and Seon Hwa Lee in the LPGA Championship at Pittsford, N.Y. It's still anybody's event at Locust Hill Country Club outside Rochester as the tough conditions — including a persistent and gusting wind — created a logjam behind the leaders in the LPGA Tour's second major of the season. Inbee Park , Mika Miyazato and Lindsey Wright were a stroke back.

The trouble with buying a house from Annika Sorenstam was twofold for Yani Tseng. First, she considered Sorenstam an idol, and Tseng became tongue-tied in her presence. Second, the size of the trophy room left an indelible impression. "It's huge," Tseng said. One problem resolved itself this year when Sorenstam visited Tseng to give the young Taiwanese star some career advice. As for the trophy room, well, a few more days like Sunday won't hurt. Tseng, 21, gathered some hardware for the shelf by shooting four-under-par, final-round 68 to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.

Ten players, including Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez and Patty Sheehan, shot three-under-par 68s Thursday to create a crowd atop the leader board after the opening round of the LPGA Championship at Bethesda, Md. The large group included Trish Johnson, the leading money-winner on the tour this year. Six others were one shot back, and eight shot 70s. "It's getting harder and harder to win out here these days," Lopez said. "You have to play great golf because so many players are playing so well."

If past success in big tournaments has anything to do with predicting success on the weekend of a major championship, then good luck handicapping the field at the midway point of the Kraft Nabisco Championship. The top eight players after two rounds have a combined 13 major titles, which seemingly sets up a weekend clash of women's golf heavyweights at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. Unheralded South Korean Song-Hee Kim has the midway lead after her four-under 68 Friday in the second round gave her a two-day total of seven-under 137, but lined up just behind her is a parade of past major champions.

When the week began, history seemed oh so close for Ai Miyazato, but it suddenly seems a long way off after the Japanese star opened with a two-over-par 74 in the first round of the Kia Classic on Thursday at La Costa Resort and Spa. Miyazato won the first two tournaments on the LPGA Tour last month at Thailand and Singapore and is bidding to become the first player in LPGA history to win the first three tournaments of the season, but now she'll...