The top story in golf this week obviously is Annika Sorenstam'sgolf betting preview.
Can Annika, who will quit competitive golf at the end of the year, win this week at the Sybase Classic in Clifton, N.J.?
Absolutely.
A winner of 72 women's pro tour events, including three U.S Women's Opens, and the only female player to shoot 59 in a competitive round, Sorenstam said she intended to have one last shot at overtaking Lorena Ochoa and reclaiming the world No. 1 spot.
"There's still plenty of golf to be played," she said. "I have another seven months left, and my goal is to win tournaments. I still have the energy and excitement to finish the year on a strong note."
Sorenstam, +125 this week on WagerWeb.com, is coming off a seven-shot win at the Michelob Ultra Open last week and has finished out of the top 10 only once in seven starts this year. She has won this event twice before (1998, 2000). If she enters the final round with the lead Sunday, forget about it: Annika has won 27 of the past 30 tournaments she has led entering the final round.
Sorenstam and Ochoa have combined for eight winsalready this season. Paula Creamer, who has won twice this season, is not in the field.
Ochoa (the WagerWeb.com favorite at -115) figures to be Sorenstam's top competition, as usual. Last year, she dominated despite not leading until the final round; Ochoa shot four straight rounds in the 60s. She'll be gunning for her third straight Sybase win.PGA TOUR: With it falling the week after The Players Championship, it's a bit of a weak field this week in Duluth, Ga., for the AT&T Classic.
No. 15 Stewart Cink is the highest-ranked player entered, followed by defending champion Zach Johnson at No. 22. They are the only players in the top 25 who will be at Sugarloaf this week.
Johnson (+1100 this week on WagerWeb.com) birdied the first playoff hole last year to edge Ryuji Imada for his second career title at TPC Sugarloaf. Johnson hasn't won since last year's victory and has missed the cut in two of his last three starts on Tour.
In four starts at the AT&T Classic, Johnson has never finished outside the top 30 and, apart from his two victories here, he was runner-up to Phil Mickelson two years ago. All three of Johnson's career wins (the other being the Masters) have come in Georgia.
Cink, who lives nearby, might be the one to bet on this week, as he has four top-3 finishes this season. In Duluth, he has a second-place finish in 1999 included in a record of six top-10 finishes. Cink, the WagerWeb.com favorite at +700, hasn't missed a cut at the AT&T since 2002 and has top-25s four of the last five years.
A sleeper pick might be Ben Crane (+2000), who has bounced back from an injury-plagued 2007. He finished sixth last week at The Players and has missed only one cut in 12 events this season with four top-12 finishes. Crane won here in 2003.
For what it's worth, six of the last 13 PGA Tour events have been won by international players, but since New Zealander Bob Charles won the first Duluth event in 1967, only two international players have won in the 36-year tournament history. South Africa's Retief Goosen (who is in the field this week) was victorious in 2002, and he was joined by Canada's Dave Barr in 1987. Goosen is the second-favorite this week at +900. retirement announcement, so we would be remiss if we didn't put the ladies first in our weekly
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