Oregon, July 02: World number one Annika Sorenstam has a score to settle with Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club when she launches her bid for a third U.S. Women's Open in Thursday's first round.
In 1997, the Swede arrived here aiming to win the title for an unprecedented third successive year, but she crumbled under the burden of expectation and failed to make the cut.
Six years later, it is a very different story. Sorenstam has grown accustomed to coping with the harshest of pressure, none more so than when she lined up against the men in the PGA Tour's Colonial tournament in May.
In the four LPGA tournaments she has played since then, she has won two -- including last month's major, the LPGA Championship -- and lost a third in a playoff.

"Back in 1996, I couldn't handle all the spotlight and the media hype," the five-times major champion said on Tuesday. "Now I'm much more able to cope with everything out on the golf course. But, yes, I really do feel I have something to prove here this week."



Sorenstam, who has won three LPGA events and one in Japan in 2003, is clear favourite, but there is a clutch of challengers queueing up to claim the most coveted prize in the women's game.



American Juli Inkster, who overcame a last-round deficit to beat Sorenstam into second place at Prairie Dunes in Kansas last year, is also chasing a third U.S. Open and the 43-year-old underlined her form by tying for third last week in New Jersey.



South Korea's Pak Se-ri is firmly established as number two to Sorenstam in the world rankings, and has already won twice this season. The 25-year-old clinched the U.S. Open as a rookie in 1998, and has already added a further three major titles.



Grace Park, another South Korean, has been in outstanding form this year, while Rachel Teske has won her last two tournaments and has overtaken Karrie Webb as the leading Australian on the LPGA Tour.



Not that Webb can be discounted. Like Sorenstam, she failed to make the cut when chasing a history-making third successive U.S. Open last year, and she has not won anywhere since she collected her sixth career major at the British Open 11 months ago.



But the 28-year-old Australian has shown flashes of form in 2003, and she will not be short of motivation as she joins Sorenstam in aiming to prove a point at Pumpkin Ridge.



Making her debut in the third women's major championship of the year is the remarkable 13-year-old amateur from Hawaii, Michelle Wie. She became the youngest winner of the U.S. women's amateur public links championship last month and has made the cut in all three LPGA starts this year, including a tie for ninth at her first major, the Nabisco Championship in California in March.



Britain's Alison Nicholas is also in this week's field and is set for a nostalgic trip down memory lane. She memorably beat American legend Nancy Lopez to win the title by a shot in 1997, but is unlikely to be a serious contender this year.



However, she has wonderful recollections of her victory over Lopez, who finished second four times but never managed to win the title during her illustrious career.



"People told me I ruined Nancy's life," recalled Nicholas. "But they forget that I wanted to win the title just as much."


Bureau Report