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Sorenstam Misses Cut in ADT Championship
Annika Sorenstam couldn't pull off a huge challenge: overcoming a 2-over 74 in the opening round with a low score that would have qualified her for Saturday play. The Hall of Famer shot a 3-over-par 75 Friday that left her missing the cut in her final LPGA tournament, the season-ending ADT Championship.
"I wanted to play two more rounds. I didn't want to end it today," she said. Sorenstam finished at 5-over 149.
The 32-player ADT Championship has one of the more onerous cut configurations in golf. After two rounds, the 16 players with the lowest scores qualify for Saturday, when all scores are reset to zero. After Saturday's round, the field is further halved, with Sunday also seeing an all-new start.
Sorenstam announced earlier that 2008 will be her final competitive season so she can concentrate more on family and business interests.
When she came off the 18th green, Sorenstam was greeted by an LPGA official who told her she had to undergo a random drug testing. "They're not going to let me go," Sorenstam said, apparently not pleased with the move by the tour.
The Swede knew she had some serious ground to make up to qualify for the third round. "Making the turn at 5-over, I knew I'd have to shoot 3-under or 4-under on the back," she said of her position after 27 holes. "I was going for birdies, trying to make up ground."
After doing just that on the par-4 10th, Sorenstam ran off five straight pars, normally satisfactory, but not in this situation. A three-putt bogey on the par-4 16th ended her chances. "I was just doing my job up to that point," said longtime caddie, an emotional Terry McNamara. "Then it was like, '[Expletive], it's over.' "
The crowd around the 18th green gave Sorenstam a long ovation as she strode up what could be the final hole of her stellar LPGA career. An even louder response arose after her final putt.
Sorenstam's sister Charlotta, also an LPGA pro, emerged from the crowd shaking a bottle of champagne to give her older sibling a spray. Lorena Ochoa, who supplanted Sorenstam as the world No. 1, and Cristie Kerr, waited after their rounds to extend their best wishes.
"It's very mixed," Sorenstam said of her feelings. "I'm going to miss a lot of these things. But the good part is I have a lot of good things in front of me."
Sorenstam exits the professional stage with 72 LPGA titles and 10 majors. She also made history by becoming the first woman in 47 years to play in a PGA Tour event, the Colonial in 2003.
