Sorenstam bounces back to see off Estill

Annika Sorenstam shot a four-under-par 68 for a two-stroke victory over the third-round leader Michelle Estill and Vicki Goetze-Ackerman at the Corning Classic yesterday.

Annika Sorenstam shot a four-under-par 68 for a two-stroke victory over the third-round leader Michelle Estill and Vicki Goetze-Ackerman at the Corning Classic yesterday.

It was Sorenstam's third victory in six tournaments this year, no 51 overall, and her 16th come-from-behind triumph. And it came a year after Sorenstam had skipped the Corning to play against the men at Colonial. Sorenstam finished at 18-under 270.

Estill, who finished with a 71, was bidding for her first win in nearly 13 years.She held a one-shot lead over Sorenstam at the start of the round and held her own over the first seven holes as Sorenstam struggled.

Estill birdied two of the first four holes, and when Sorenstam carded her second bogey of the day at hole 6, two-putting from six feet, her frustration was visible. Estill held a four-shot lead and appeared on the way to the second win of her career.

Things began to slowly unravel for Estill two holes later. She hit a wedge over the green at hole 8 and two-putted from 40 feet for bogey. Sorenstam then hit a 9-iron to nine feet and birdied the ninth hole and crushed a soaring drive at the 10th hole that helped set up a three-foot birdie putt.

Estill rebounded with consecutive birdies at holes 11 and 12 but her luck began to go bad again on the next hole. She drove under the trees in the right rough and had to punch out. When she had to settle for bogey, the trio was tied again, at 16 under.

Sorenstam took the lead for good with a seven-foot birdie putt at hole 14, a 510-yard par-5 with an elevated green, while Estill managed only par.

Sorenstam nearly created a stirring finish when she hit a 4-wood off the tee under the right trees at the 336-yard 17th hole. The ball came to rest on a ridge, but she somehow powered a grounder that rolled onto the green. She made par and sealed the win.

Corning Classic (New York) final round scores (US unless stated): 270 A Sorenstam (Swe) 65 67 70 68; 272 V Goetze-Ackerman 68 70 67 67, M Estill 67 64 70 71; 275 W Ward 69 70 71 65, S-Y Moon (Kor) 73 66 70 66, S H Ahn (Kor) 69 71 66 69; 276 L Diaz 69 68 71 68; 278 Koch (Swe) 68 68 72 70, C Matthew (GB) 67 74 69 68, K Kuehne 68 70 70 70; 279 Jeong Jang (Kor) 68 73 68 70, L Davies (GB) 70 69 70 70, N Taylor (Aus) 71 67 70 71; 280 P Meunier-Lebouc (Fra) 71 71 72 66, CWood 71 71 68 70, R Jones 69 74 68 69, M McKay (GB) 71 66 72 71, D Killeen 69 68 70 73; 281 L Ochoa (Mex) 70 71 71 69, M Mallon 69 71 71 70, S Steinhauer 67 70 74 70; 282 N Gulbis 66 71 70 75, R Teske (Aus) 70 68 73 71, B Daniel 70 73 68 71, L Neumann (Swe) 65 72 72 73, J Bartholomew 68 74 70 70, J Morley (GB) 70 72 71 69