Tee to green to the winner’s circle

If Sorenstam can win the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill, which began here on Thursday, she will have set her record over a 27-week span, a lifetime in sports, especially in one as finicky as golf. Much can go wrong with a swing from day to day, not to mention between weeks. Momentum can die with every day off. Blisters can throw off a swing every bit as much as backaches.

In February, in the middle of Sorenstam’s run, she filed for divorce from her husband, David Esch, who caddied for her in tournaments earlier in her career. Then, in March, she won three tournaments, including the Kraft Nabisco Championship for her eighth major title, pulling a cap tight to her brow and seeing only the fairway and green in front of her.

‘‘I am fortunate that I have something I enjoy doing,” Sorenstam said on Wednesday. “I am throwing myself into golf, something that has been in my life and going well. That is the way I deal with it. Thinking about the good stuff.” Her play, a mix of long drives and precision irons, has been spectacular.

During her winning streak, she is a cumulative 68 under par, with a 68.22 scoring average per round. Her average margin of victory is 6.7 strokes, which, put another away, is ‘‘blowing people out of the water,’’ the LPGA rookie Paula Creamer said.

Justin Rose, a PGA Tour player, said recently, ‘‘You meet Annika and you don’t realise what a ruthless competitor she is because she’s so nice.’’

For Sorenstam, who has 59 career victories and played against men at the PGA Tour’s Colonial tournament in 2003, the pursuit of Lopez’s record does not equal her desire to win the Grand Slam. But it remains significant, she said.

Like Tiger Woods, her friend and occasional playing partner, Sorenstam has learned to shape her schedule with the majors in mind by occasionally trading in a week of play for a week of rest.

In 2000 and 2001, Sorenstam played in 28 events. Last year, she played in only 22, her fewest ever, and this year she said she wanted to play 20.

‘‘There are a lot of players out here that play in seven or eight in a row,’’ said Sorenstam, 34. ‘‘I remember, as a rookie, I would play in five or six in a row; it was a piece of cake. Now, I don’t play more than three in a row.’’

‘‘When I do win, I feel like I give everything I have,’’ she added. ‘‘I go home at night, I think about what I have to do. I am worn out, therefore I don’t play as much. ‘I always said I believe in quality more than quantity. I have never been a person to show up just to be seen.’’

Se Ri Pak, the defending champion here, said some players predicted Sorenstam’s dominant play before the season started. They are the ones who have seen Sorenstam’s booming drives up close and have heard about Sorenstam’s exercises on a pull-up bar.

‘‘Everybody already said that, starting in 2005, it is going to be Annika,’’ Pak said. “All the players are trying to get in better shape, fitness-wise. Now, they care about themselves instead of just going out there. I don’t know how I will catch Annika, but everyone will work hard.’’

Though Sorenstam has never won this tournament (she finished sixth in 2003 and tied for eighth last year), she seems comfortable wherever there is grass to place a tee. She has so much confidence that she even changed the irons in her bag after winning the MasterCard Classic and the Safeway International this year, a bold move in a game in which players hold fast to habits and suprstitions.

After she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Sorenstam changed her irons again, saying that a sponsor, Callaway Golf, was coming out with so many new products that she wanted to learn new things.

Sorenstam seems unafraid of change, which is just one theme that colors her life these days. There is also a tournament to play. ‘‘I have a chance to do something that no one else has done,’’ she said.

(New York Times News Service)