ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) _ Annika Sorenstam will have some help
from Tiger Woods when she plays the Women's British Open at St.
Andrews.
His Old Course yardage book will be tucked into her pocket.
Sorenstam, the former No. 1 who is coming back from injury, has
the book Woods used when he won the British Open here in 2005. He
handed it to her recently in Orlando, Fla., where they both live.
``He said, `I have my yardage book. Do you want to use it?''
Sorenstam said on Wednesday on the eve of the LPGA's fourth major.
``I replied, `I would love to. Are you sure?'''
Sorenstam has a friendly rivalry with Woods based on the number
of majors won _ he has 12, she has 10. The two discussed the Old
Course a few weeks ago.
``He told me to hit left, which I already knew, and to practice
my long putting, which is going to be key. And he's absolutely
right,'' she said. ``So I have been putting from 30 yards off the
green, totally different shots than I would use in the States.''
Sorenstam has been slowed by back and disc problems this year and
says it will take another three or four months before she is fully
fit.
``I am totally pain-free but my strength is not back,'' she said.
``I've been working on my backswing and now I have it figured out.
Now I need to trust it coming down on the ball.''
Her improvement has been constant and her results have improved,
including a sixth-place finish last week at the Evian Masters in
France.
Sorenstam said she felt nervous in the third round _ ``playing in
the second last group and just looking at the leaderboard and seeing
my name there.''
``It's been a while,'' she said.
Sorenstam, who won an event called the St. Rule Trophy as an
amateur on The Old Course in 1990, lost her top ranking to Lorena
Ochoa this year and is now third, with Karrie Webb also ahead of
her.
She does not want so much to recover that position as to regain
full control of her golf game.
``I want to get back to 100 per cent and play to the level I know
how,'' said the Swede, who has 69 LPGA victories.
Ochoa, meanwhile, is continuing where she left off last year,
when she won six titles, was runner-up six times and finished in the
top-10 in 20 out of 25 events. She has added three more wins this
year and four second-place finishes.
But that elusive first major title has eluded her. Instead, this
year's first three majors have gone to other first-time winners:
Morgan Pressel in the Kraft Nabisco, Suzann Pettersen in the LPGA
and Cristie Kerr in the U.S. Open.
``I think 2007 was a year for me to start winning majors and I
still have one more chance,'' Ochoa said. ``I'm going to try hard.''
