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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) -It will take more than one good tournament for Annika Sorenstam to even begin to make a dent on Lorena Ochoa's stranglehold on No. 1 in women's golf.
At least now it looks possible.
Sorenstam conjured memories of the time when she was as dominant as Ochoa is now on Sunday, hitting every fairway and almost every green in a 66 that gave her a seven-shot victory in the Michelob Ultra Open with a tournament record 19-under 265.
"That's the way I used to play," Sorenstam said Sunday after following rounds of 64, 66 and 69 with one that looked to the players in her threesome to be as good as it gets.
"She hit a perfect iron shot every single hole," Jeong Jang said. "Annika's back."
"It's good to see that she is where she was when she was No. 1," added Christina Kim, whose birdie on the final hole - and Jang's bogey after missing a 1-foot putt - tied them with Allison Fouch and Karen Stupples. "It's just - flawless is the best way to put it."
It's never flawless with Sorenstam, who believes it's possible to make birdie at every hole in a round and shoot 54, but coming down the stretch she was close. She had five birdies on the back nine, including three in a row, and birdie putts on most every hole.
"That's about as good as I can hit my iron shots," she said. "Make a few more putts and get some distance on my drives and I'm going to tell you that's as good as I can play."
The victory was the Swede's third in eight events, and in the process she also answered the doubters who said she was no threat to Ochoa, who has five wins already this year.
An eight-time player of the year, Sorenstam has a long way to go to get back to the top, but said she'll try with a much different approach.
Before, she said, "I was just focusing on golf and, you know, that's all I did. Now, I feel like I'm a more rounded person and have a better perspective on things."
Sorenstam, who is planning a January wedding to fiance Mike McGee, has opened her own golf academy and also developed an appreciation for playing golf when her back didn't let her.
"The last year, you know, going through what I did, you appreciate making cuts, you appreciate being in the top 10 and having a chance to win," she said. "There's so many players out here that I think when you step away for a while, you see it in a different light."
