Three on Major Match for LPGA’s Best

RANCHO MIRAGE —  All we need today is Don King at the first tee and a guy in a tuxedo who says “Let’s get ready to birdie!”

It’s what LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw dreams about when he hits the hay every night: No. 1 vs. No. 2 going head to head in the last group on the last day of a major.

That’s the big programming note for this day, at least for the only hour the final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship is broadcast on ABC from Mission Hills Country Club, where Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb start the day dead even.

Afterward, Sorenstam made the whole thing sound more like a buffet line than a showdown of LPGA heavyweights. “Everyone is hungry,” she said. “We’ll see who is the most hungry.”

Webb navigated the tricky greens and played the four par-fives in three under Saturday during her five-under-par 67. That was enough to catch Sorenstam, who didn’t have a birdie the last seven holes on her way to a 71.

It’s about as good a matchup as anyone could have wanted, and not only that, it’s the first time Sorenstam and Webb have ever found each other in the last group of a major.

However, they’re not the only ones who have a chance to win--they’re not even the only ones in the lead. Liselotte Neumann birdied the last hole for a one-over 73 and worked her way into the final threesome with a 54-hole total of four-under 212. Neumann, who led by two shots after 36 holes, had trouble keeping her tee shots on the fairway and was clearly amazed she hadn’t dropped out of sight.

“It was going everywhere,” she said. “I was spending more time with the crowd than I was inside the ropes. I guess I was being fan friendly. Good thing the rough wasn’t thick. If it were, I would probably be sitting here with an 80.”

Instead, she birdied two of the last three holes, including a seeing-eye sand wedge that left her ball five inches from the hole at the 18th.

Paired with Sorenstam and Webb, Neumann says she expects to be nervous, but she has a plan. “I’m going to do some deep breathing and try to stay calm,” she said.

It’s probably a fine tactic for anyone who has a shot today, and there are quite a few in that category. Becky Iverson and Rosie Jones are only one shot back and Dorothy Delasin and Cristie Kerr are two shots behind the leaders.

There are 11 players who begin the day within four shots of the tri-leaders and Webb cautioned against making too much of a two-person charge to the finish line between herself and Sorenstam.

Webb did say that Sorenstam seems to bring out the best in her game.

“Whether or not that happens, I’m hoping that I can just play the golf I played today,” Webb said. “But it’s going to be a good finish. You know, I think we’ll leave it all out there. I think Annika is not going to lay down too easily either. And not only her, but ... there’s a lot of good players [who] have got a good chance as well.”

Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, amateur Lorena Ochoa and Lori Kane, who aced the eighth hole with a five-iron, trail the leaders by three shots. Se Ri Pak heads a group at even-par 216 that includes Beth Daniel, Kris Tschetter and Leta Lindley.

Webb began the day six shots behind Neumann and had two goals for Saturday’s round--shoot in the 60s and play the par-fives better. She accomplished both. Webb was looking for a score of two or three under and finished two shots better than that. And after playing the par-fives in even par the first two days, she birdied three of the four.

At the second, Webb hit a sand wedge to 10 feet. At the 11th, her three-wood second shot was just short of the green and she chipped to four feet. Then at the 18th, Webb hit a nine-iron to 20 feet and made her putt, despite being distracted when a spectator’s cell phone rang while she was setting up.

“You know, those pesky cell phones,” Webb said.

As for Sorenstam, she might be thinking about that pesky Webb. Only last month, they were tied after 72 holes at the Australian Ladies Masters, where Sorenstam won on the fourth playoff hole. “I guess I’m 1-up,” Sorenstam said. “I hope she remembers that.”

Sorenstam and Webb have finished first and second in the same LPGA event 10 times since 1995 and both have won five. The last time was the 2000 Evian Masters, where Sorenstam beat Webb in a one-hole playoff.

The last group also features the last two winners of this event--Sorenstam is the defending champion and Webb won in 2000. Webb also won a major last year and has five, two more than Sorenstam.

“I know what it’s going to take,” Sorenstam said. “Karrie has won here before. She has won majors. She has won tournaments. I’m sure she feels the same way as I do, and that she’s in the position she wants to be.

“She has won her share, I’ve won my share. I think our games are very similar. We have a similar attitude on the golf course. So I think we are both going to push each other. If one makes a birdie, I’m going to try and top that. And then I’m going to try to make a birdie on the next hole. I just want to be a step ahead of her tomorrow. That’s what it’s going to take.”

Sorenstam probably would like to forget two three-putt bogeys, at the sixth and the 16th. When it was over, her husband, David Esch, was reminding her of the importance of focus for today’s final round. Judging from the look on her face, it didn’t appear that Sorenstam needed much reminding.