One More Round for Sorenstam And Hurst

NEWPORT, R.I., July 2 -- Annika Sorenstam and Pat Hurst walked 36 grueling holes in the same final group Sunday, battling blustery winds, numbing fatigue and ultimately each other for more than 10 hours and two riveting rounds in the 61st U.S. Women's Open. On Monday morning, they'll have to do it all over again in an 18-hole playoff at the venerable Newport Country Club to determine the outcome of America's national championship of golf.

Hurst made a par-saving, four-foot putt at the 72nd hole and Sorenstam tapped in from a foot moments after missing a 30-foot birdie putt by an inch, leaving the two veteran players tied at even-par 284.

Hurst came in with a 69 and Sorenstam a 71 and they both finished two shots ahead of their closest pursuers, including 16-year-old Michelle Wie (73), at 2-over 286.

Hurst and Sorenstam pushed into the 10th playoff in Open history on a day when both players had the lead, lost it and got it back again with some brilliant shot-making and clutch putting down the stretch despite wind gusts in the 20-25 mph range that buffeted one of the most difficult venues in Open history.

Sorenstam will be aiming for the 10th major championship and third Open title of her Hall of Fame career Monday in an event she last won in 1996. Her ability to recover from a disastrous stretch of double bogey-bogey-bogey on the last three holes of her front nine Sunday afternoon was typical of a player many believe is the greatest of this or any other generation.

"When you're in a championship like this and see yourself on the leader board, you don't think about whether you're tired or if the wind is blowing," Sorenstam said. "I just told myself to keep on going. It was funny. I was out there and I said, 'I won't play this hole anymore,' but I guess I will play it again. It's going to be a different mind-set. I've never been in a playoff like this before."

Sorenstam's 18-foot birdie putt at the 386-yard 15th hole put her back into a tie for the lead when Hurst missed a 14-footer at the hole. The 35-year-old native of Sweden then seemed to take control when she knocked in a 20-foot birdie putt at the 549-yard 16th hole, going to 1 under while Hurst stayed at even par when she two-putted for par from 28 feet.

Sorenstam gave the lead right back at the 185-yard 17th hole. She said she was in between clubs and chose a 6-iron off the tee, when 7-iron might have been enough. Her ball hit the putting surface and rolled all the way through the green and over the back. She managed to chip within eight feet of the cup, but barely missed the par-saving putt. When Hurst two-putted from 30 feet for par, they went to the 18th tee in the same position they began the day, tied for the lead, this time with one hole to play.

"I hit a pretty good chip," Sorenstam said of her second shot at the 17th. "I thought I hit a pretty good putt, too. It just didn't go in. I gave it my all. I was patient out there. This was definitely a true test."

Hurst, 37, a four-time winner on the LPGA Tour, including the 1998 Kraft Nabisco for her only major triumph, survived a dreadful tee shot on the 18th hole, one that nearly took a bounce into a hazard down the right side. She managed to gouge a second shot out of the rough to within 40 yards of the flag, then made a brilliant up and down from there to get into the playoff.

"I've chipped in three times this week," Hurst said. "It definitely helped my confidence on the last one. I think my adrenaline kept me going. I didn't say to myself, 'This is my thirty-third hole, this is my thirty-fourth hole.' I tried to sit down and take a load off my feet whenever I could. We had to wait a little on some holes, and that helped."

It also helped that several other contenders began falling by the wayside on the back nine. At one point, Wie birdied the 340-yard 12th hole with a 15-foot putt to join Hurst and Sorenstam in the lead at 1 over par. But Wie failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the 181-yard 13th hole for a bogey, and she finished with five straight pars, failing in her attempt to win her first major title.