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Annika Sorenstam isn't one to pull up a couch on Oprah and spill her innermost angst. The stoic Swede privately dealt with a painful divorce last season and took refuge between the ropes while taking aim at more LPGA records.
Her form of therapy proved particularly effective. Sorenstam batted .500 last season, winning 10 of 20 tournaments, and begins anew this weekend at the MasterCard Classic near Mexico City, where she started a string of three consecutive victories to open 2005.
"Last year was tough. I wouldn't say rock bottom -- it sounds so dramatic -- but it was really low," Sorenstam says. "I made a decision last February, after that I stuck to it, and I'm working towards a new life. Once I made a decision, from that point on, I was feeling a lot better."
Sorenstam, 35, sounds re-energized as she faces challenges to her throne from a new set of young stars. Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak, Grace Park and others made runs at Sorenstam in the past, but none lasted for the long haul. So what's to be expected on the course now that Sorenstam feels unburdened in her personal life (her divorce was finalized in August)?
Asked if she thought she could top last season, she says: "If someone's going to do it, I think I'm in a position where I can do it."
Sorenstam owns 66 career titles and stands 22 wins from Kathy Whitworth's record. Since the start of 2002, Sorenstam has won 35 times, an average of almost nine a season. At that pace, she'd pass Whitworth midway through 2008.
"I've come a lot further than I thought I would," Sorenstam says. "The competition on our tour just gets tougher and tougher every year, so who knows? It is easy to think I'm going to win 10 every year, but I've been lucky the last few years. We'll see. If I come down to 85 or 86 events, then maybe I will try a little bit harder."
Until recently, Sorenstam has been a slow starter. She's won three of her last four season openers but is 4-8 overall. No matter what she does, her No.1 perch in the inaugural Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings -- a 2-week-old system she believes needs to be tweaked -- appears safe, perhaps until she retires.
"I don't have an answer to it, but I'm sure the LPGA will figure it out and in a few months we will have an accurate system," she says.
Sorenstam (18.13) is 8.1 points ahead of No.2 Michelle Wie and 8.73 points ahead of No.3 Paula Creamer -- the latest teenagers already ordained as the future of women's golf.
"Annika is definitely going to be motivated by all this," says Cristie Kerr, fifth in the rankings. "She's enjoyed her position of being on the top of the rankings. Her wanting to be No.1 in the world is not going to change, but there's going to be a lot more challenges."
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