Sorenstam ready to start another streak

<p>Now that her record-tying streak of victories is over, Annika Sorenstam can get back to the thing she wants most of all: the Grand Slam.</p><p>Nancy Lopez feels it's well within reach.</p><p>"If anyone can do it, she can," the Hall of Famer said Wednesday before the start of the LPGA event that she hosts. "The only thing that can stop her is a golf course she doesn't like playing. ... Some courses don't suit your game. But nothing else is going to stop her from winning a Grand Slam."</p><p>Sorenstam won't be going for a major title in the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship, which begins Thursday at Eagles Landing Country Club south of Atlanta. But she wants to win every tournament she plays, and becomes the automatic favorite any time she shows up.</p><p>"I do talk a lot about the majors," Sorenstam said. "But this is what matters this week. When I'm standing on that first tee, it's that tee shot that matters."</p><p>Sorenstam won the first major of the season and has made no secret about her desire to win the four biggest tournaments in a single year. But she's downplaying the quest this week, knowing there's still a month to go before the next major, the McDonald's LPGA Championship.</p><p>"I'm just taking them one at a time," Sorenstam said. "I have a goal in mind, and that's to win as many as I can. I don't want to look too deep into it, but I know I'm ready and I know I can do it."</p><p>In an apropos convergence of the LPGA's past and present, Sorenstam will tee off in Lopez's tournament _ increased from three to four rounds this year _ after the Swede's bid for a record sixth straight victory was denied last weekend.</p><p>For now, Sorenstam will have to be content sharing the mark set by Lopez in 1978.</p><p>"I get over things pretty quickly," she said after playing the pro-am under a warm Georgia sun. "I'd like to start a new streak. This would be a good week to start."</p><p>Lopez was just glad to maintain a spot in the record book.</p><p>"As a professional athlete, you want to keep some of your records," she said. "I wasn't rooting against her, but I did get a sweet message from my husband (former major league player and manager Ray Knight). He told me, `You can breathe easy. Annika didn't break your record.'"</p><p>That doesn't take away from Sorenstam's stranglehold on the LPGA Tour. Even when faced with a strong field _ 92 of the top 100 players from last year's money list are playing at Eagles Landing _ it's essentially Sorenstam vs. Everyone Else.</p><p>Beginning last November, Sorenstam won her final two events on the LPGA Tour. She kept the run going with three more victories to start 2005, including that first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.</p><p>But the amazing run finally ended last weekend at the Michelob Ultra Open in Virginia, doomed by a dismal first round, a botched hole in the final round and a shaky putter all the way through.</p><p>Sorenstam wound up 10 shots behind winner Cristie Kerr, in a tie for 12th. But that's considered a blip on the LPGA radar, hardly a sign that everyone else is ready to challenge a player who has dominated the tour for most of the past decade.</p><p>"The other players know how great she is," Lopez said. "She definitely intimidates them."</p><p>Kerr is one who might be ready to put a dent in Sorenstam's dominance. The 27-year-old American has five career victories, four since the start of 2004. Last weekend, she finally showed she could win with Sorenstam in the field.</p><p>"I feel like I'm becoming a top player," Kerr said. "And once you reach a state mentally and physically, the sky's the limit."</p><p>Other than Kerr, Lopez couldn't name any other players with the potential to challenge Sorenstam, at least in the short term.</p><p>"I hope the other players will work hard to beat her, but they have to get stronger," Lopez said. "Golf is easy for her. She may not win every week, but she's dominating."</p><p>Jennifer Rosales won this tournament last year for her first career victory _ with Sorenstam in the field, no less. The 26-year-old native of the Philippines picked up another win in February at the SBS Open in Hawaii, but still sounds a bit in awe of the world's top-ranked player.</p><p>"She is just an unbelievable player," Rosales said. "When she misses, she misses good. That's what it is. It's not about hitting great shots. It's about missing it and still hitting your target. That's how she plays."</p>

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