WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Annika Sorenstam defended her title at the season-ending ADT Championship with a final-round, 3-under 69 on Sunday.
Sorenstam ended the tournament at 6-under-par 282 for a two-stroke victory over three players. It was her fourth win at this event, her 10th title of the season and the 66th of her career.
Annika Sorenstam has won 66 career LPGA Tour events.
It didn’t come easy -- there was controversy, some bad weather and a difficult layout at Trump International Golf Club -- but Sorenstam held the lead at the end of the last three rounds and fended off some challenges Sunday with two key birdies on the back nine.
‘It was very exciting. It’s been a tough week and a tough golf course,’ said Sorenstam, who collected $215,000 for the win. ‘It came down to the end. I played really, really hard this week.’
For the second straight day, Liselotte Neumann was tied with Sorenstam late in her round. But she ended two strokes back at minus-4 after a bogey at 18 gave her a round of 2-under 70.
Neumann, who double-bogeyed 17 on Saturday to ruin an otherwise spotless third round, struggled around the turn on Sunday. She missed a short par putt at the ninth, then found the water on the way to a double-bogey at 10.
‘Other than that, I fought,’ said Neumann. ‘I wanted to win this so bad.’
Soo-Yun Kang was also tied with Sorenstam for a spell, but like Neumann she finished two strokes back following a final-round 68. Michele Redman also tied for second place after a round of 68.
Catriona Matthew shot a 1-under 71 and finished alone in fifth place at minus-2. Paula Creamer, who argued with Sorenstam over a drop on Thursday, shot a 71 and was part of a group who shared sixth at even par.
Lorie Kane (71) and first-round leader Hee-Won Han (73) also finished at even par.
In a field featuring the top 30 money winners on the LPGA Tour this season, players struggled to score in red numbers at Donald Trump’s course. In fact, there were just 21 rounds shot under par over the final two rounds.
And if that wasn’t enough, the best women’s player in the world was defending a lead after three rounds for the 43rd time in her career.
Sorenstam carded just two birdies in her third round, but she had that many by her fifth hole on Sunday. She stumbled to a bogey at the eighth -- which dropped her to minus-4 around the turn and into a tie with Kang for the lead -- but it would be the only hiccup of her round.
With a chance for the outright lead at the par-3 11th, Sorenstam rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt to move to 5 under.
Then, after Neumann forced another tie with birdies at 14 and 15, Sorenstam stuck her approach shot at the par-4 16th within 10 feet and made the downhill putt.
The birdie gave Sorenstam the lead for good at minus-6.
And she wouldn’t need a playoff to win like she did in 1997 and 2004 -- Neumann dropped two back with a bogey at 18, while Sorenstam finished with a routine par at the hole which provided so much controversy in her first round.
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