Reuters
Tuesday, March 20

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Karrie Webb has dominated women's golf the past two years, but the tide has turned Annika Sorenstam's way heading into this week's Nabisco Championship -- the year's first major on the LPGA Tour.

	Annika Sorenstam has four top-10s in six starts at Rancho Mirage.

Last week Sorenstam set the golfing world alight with her history-making 59 on the way to victory in the Standard Register Ping in Phoenix.

The win gave Sorenstam consecutive titles in the Arizona desert after she successfully defended her Welch's/Circle K Championship in Tucson the previous week.

Over the two events Sorenstam was a mind-boggling 50-under par, and on both occasions she left Se Ri Pak to settle for second.

Pak, 23, won the season-opening YourLife Vitamins Classic and is returning to the form that saw her win two majors -- the LPGA Championship and U.S. Women's Open -- in a sensational 1998 rookie year.

"The start I have made this season has given me a lot of confidence," Pak said in Phoenix. "I've worked hard and I'm really hungry for success."

Of course, Webb, the defending Nabisco Champion, cannot be dismissed.

Only once has she finished outside the top 10 in six starts on the LPGA Tour this year, and she won the Australian Ladies Masters for a record fourth time in a row two weeks ago.

Winner of three of the last five majors, Webb won the Nabisco by 10 shots at Mission Hills last year.

"The majors are easily the four most important weeks of the year, and I've geared my season to reach my first peak this week," declared Webb, who tied for seventh in Phoenix. "I've not quite hit 100 percent this season, but I've proved my game is in good shape."

Sorenstam, meanwhile, is determined to add a third major to her consecutive U.S. Women's Open titles in 1995 and 1996.

"The last one seems a lifetime away, and I really want to win another major," said Sorenstam, who has a house in the Palm Springs area. "I've already had a few practice rounds at Mission Hills, and after last week I feel ready."

The 30-year-old has high expectations for the season.

"I want it all this year," she said. "To win the money list (she leads with $411,488), player of the year and a chance to win all four majors. I'm having such fun at the moment and couldn't be happier with my game."

As for the American threat, it has been virtually non-existent this season.

After seven events, and with April approaching, not one title has been won by a U.S. player on the LPGA Tour -- something that, a few years ago would have been unthinkable.