Sorenstam rolls
Annika Sorenstam waved to the raucous gallery, picked up the ball and tossed it toward a sky box after ending a nearly flawless day with a 20-foot birdie putt.
It was the perfect finish to a round that carried her to an LPGA record and a victory at the State Farm Classic at Springfield, Ill.
Down five strokes at the start of play Sunday, Sorenstam tied the LPGA mark for the lowest final-round score by a tournament winner with a 62. She shot 10 under for the day to finish 19 under, two strokes ahead of Cristie Kerr (67).
“To come from five behind and to win by two, it’s pretty amazing,” Sorenstam said. “It’s something I’m going to remember for quite some time.”
Third-round leader Maria Hjorth (70) fell out of contention with a double bogey on the 16th hole and finished tied for third at 16 under with Seon-Hwa Lee (69) and Il Mi Chung (69).
Sorenstam birdied four of her first five holes and ended it in similar fashion for her fourth victory this year and third on the LPGA Tour.
“I just haven’t felt like I’ve been able to finish,” said Sorenstam, whose career-low round is a 59. “This year, it’s been 14 or 15 really good holes. … I felt like I was in control most of the day.”
The final round was emotional and dramatic, filled with fist pumps and smiles as she became the fourth LPGA winner to shoot a final-round 62 and the first since Juli Inkster shot 10 under at the 2003 LPGA Corning Classic. The other players were Kathy Whitworth at the 1968 Holiday Inn Classic and Mickey Wright at the 1964 Tall City Open.
PGA
Vijay Singh played his first five holes at 5 under par, then finished with three straight birdies for a 10-under 61 to set the course record at the TPC of Boston and build a three-shot lead over Tiger Woods, who shot 67, at the Deutsche Bank Classic in Norton, Mass.
Two years ago, Singh went toe-to-toe with Woods in the final round on Labor Day and beat him by three shots to rise to No. 1, ending Woods’ record 264 consecutive weeks atop the world ranking.
Woods now has won four straight times on the PGA Tour, and Singh is poised to end that streak.
Singh finished at 11-under 202. Justin Rose birdied the 18th for a 69, leaving him tied with Woods at 205.
Champions Tour
Former U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke victory over Jay Haas and Danny Edwards at the First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Calif.
Simpson, who began the final round trailing Tom Kite by two strokes, captured his first Champions Tour title with a 12-under 204 total.
Edwards, who had a final-round 68, and Haas, who shot a 70, finished at 205.
Ryder Cup
Darren Clarke, who hasn’t played since the British Open while coping with his wife’s death, was selected for the Ryder Cup as Europe completed its team for this month’s showdown with the United States.
Ian Woosnam took Clarke and Lee Westwood as his two captain’s picks. Paul McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal qualified for the European team after the BMW International Open, the final event to make the Ryder Cup team.
The matches will be Sept. 22-24 at The K Club in Ireland. Europe is defending champion and has won four of the last five times.
The rest of the European team consists of Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, David Howell, Robert Karlsson, Colin Montgomerie and Henrik Stenson, who won the BMW International Open in a playoff.