Annika Sorenstam chips to the ninth green Thursday during the first round of the Gainbridge LPGA tournament in Orlando, Fla. After shooting a 75 in her first LPGA round since 2008, Sorenstam rallied Friday to make the cut, carding a 1-under 71. John Raoux/Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — Annika Sorenstam went more than 12 years without playing on the LPGA Tour. Now she gets two more days.
Sorenstam made three birdies after the turn Friday at Lake Nona and posted a 1-under 71 in the Gainbridge LPGA. And even with a wrong ruling the previous day that led to an extra stroke, she still made the cut on the number.
“I did what I could,” Sorenstam said. “The goal was to shoot under par and I did, and so that’s all I can do.”
She still was 12 shots out of the lead, as Lydia Ko carded a 3-under 69 and maintained a one-shot lead over Nelly Korda (68). Ryan O’Toole had her second straight 68 and was another shot behind.
Sorenstam, making a one-time appearance because the LPGA Tour is at her home course, finally got some putts to drop and ran off three birdies on her second nine. She finished 36 holes at 2-over 146.
“The goal was to be a little bit more aggressive. I was at times; not as much as I should have,” she said. “Overall, I’m very pleased. A little chip-in there didn’t hurt. But yeah, I look at it as a great round. I’m not going to analyze it too much.”
The attention shifts to Ko, a former teen prodigy and No. 1 in the world who won her first LPGA Tour event at 15. Ko has gone nearly three years since her last victory, though her game has been trending upward.
“No matter what happens over the weekend, I think it’s good to just keep putting myself in these positions,” Ko said. “I think you get more comfortable with it and the more times you’re there I think the higher chance that at the end it will all happen for you.”
PGA: Brooks Koepka hit one his worst tee shots of the day that barely cleared the water on the 15th hole. It turned out to be the start of three straight birdies that led to a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead in the Workday Championship at Bradenton, Florida.
Koepka hit a chip 9-iron to 6 feet for birdie on No. 15, nearly holed his wedge on the next hole and then birdied the par-5 17th with a splendid bunker shot across the ridges and down the slope to tap-in range.
He closed with a bogey but was at 11-under 133 overall, one shot better than Cameron Smith, Billy Horschel and PGA champion Collin Morikawa, who made up ground with six birdies over his last 10 holes.
• Brandon Wu birdied the final two holes for a 5-under 67 and the second-round lead in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Greg Chalmers was a stroke back after a 68. The 47-year-old Australian also birdied his final two holes, the par-3 eighth and par-4 ninth. He had a hole-in-one on No. 8 in the opening round.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Phil Mickelson made a birdie after hitting out of the mud on the par-5 15th hole during a 3-under 70 in Tucson, Arizona, putting him in contention for a third straight victory to open his PGA Tour Champions career.
Mickelson was four shots behind Mike Weir, who had a bogey-free 66 in windy conditions at Tucson National. Scott Verplank holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-4 ninth to close out a 67.
Mickelson is bidding to become the first player to win his first three starts on a PGA Tour-sanctioned tour.
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