Golf Roundup | Sorenstam stays calm in playoff

AVENTURA, Fla. — On the green at the first playoff hole, Paula Creamer and Annika Sorenstam couldn't have had more varying emotions.

A first-time playoff participant, Creamer said her hands shook as she grasped her putter.

Sorenstam exuded confidence — and it showed.

Sorenstam's par on the lone extra hole Sunday was good enough to beat Creamer and win the Stanford International Pro-Am, her 71st career victory on the LPGA Tour and one where she rallied from a one-shot deficit in the final two holes of regulation.

"That's what I love. That's why I do this," said the 37-year-old Sorenstam, who earned $300,000. "Not to say I want to have playoffs every week, but it's a lot of drama and you have to hit that certain shot when it counts."

That was the 21-year-old Creamer's downfall.

After a wayward 9-iron off the tee that preceded a poor pitch, Creamer made a bogey at the par-3 17th hole to lose the outright lead with a hole left in regulation.

Both laid up at the par-5 18th in the playoff, with Creamer facing a tricky downhill birdie try from off the fringe, and Sorenstam leaving herself a birdie putt from almost the same spot where she missed a potential winner in regulation.

Although Sorenstam missed again, Creamer's 6-foot comebacker for par stopped short and gave Sorenstam her 16th victory in 22 playoff appearances.

"It's very disappointing," said Creamer, who made $182,220. "But at the same time, I'm going against one of the best players in the world ever to play golf."

Creamer closed with a 2-under-par 69, and Sorenstam shot a 70. They finished at 8 under.

Wendy Ward (70), who lives near Edwall, outside Spokane, tied for 36th place at 5 over. Ex-Washington Huskies player Louise Friberg (72) tied for 46th at 7 over and Jimin Kang (76), a graduate of King's High School in Shoreline, tied for 56th at 9 over.

Other tournaments

• Tom Watson and Andy North teamed to win the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, beating Craig Stadler and Jeff Sluman by a stroke in the 50-and-older Champions Tour event in Savannah, Ga.

Watson and North, who are each 58, had a better-ball 64 for a 31-under 185 total and will divide $450,000. Stadler and Sluman combined for a 61.

• Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke (73) won the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai, China, for his first European Tour victory in nearly five years, holing a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one-stroke victory over Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen (73). Clarke finished at 8-under 280.

• Greg Chalmers (70) became the fifth Australian winner in eight Nationwide Tour events this season, beating Norway's Henrik Bjornstad (70) with a bogey on the second hole of a playoff in the Henrico County Open in Glen Allen, Va. They finished at 14-under 274. Chalmers earned $90,000.

• Vicky Hurst, a 17-year-old from Melbourne, Fla., set a Duramed Futures Tour 54-hole scoring record, closing with an 8-under 64 for an 18-under 198 total and a three-stroke victory in the Jalapeno Golf Classic in McAllen, Texas. Grace Park set the previous record of 16 under in 1999.