Angela Stanford withstood a heroic late charge by Annika Sorenstam to win the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.  It was the second win for Stanford in 2008 and the third of her career.  Sorenstam finished tied for second with Brittany Lang while Katherine Hull finished fourth.

The final threesome duked it out all day with the lead never exceeding two shots.  Stanford reached -11 with a birdie at 6 and Hull joined her with a birdie at 8.  Sorenstam parred each of the opening nine and went to the back down by two.  Playing in the group just ahead, Lang went out in 32 and moved to within one of the lead with a birdie at 10.  Annika's eagle attempt at 10 just came up short and she tapped in to reach -10.  Stanford had eight feet for her birdie and she curled it in to take the solo lead.  Then at 11, Angela roped her approach to six feet and canned it for a two-shot margin over Hull, three over Sorenstam and Lang. 

For a few holes, it seemed no one would step up to challenge her.  At 12 Lang had 15 feet but missed it terribly to the right.  Another 15-footer at 13 eluded her.  Sorenstam missed from 10 feet at 12.  Hull narrowly missed watery disaster at 13 and took bogey to fall three behind.  Brittany made the first move with a brilliant wedge at 14 to three feet - the birdie put her within two.  Annika had 40 feet at 14 but rammed it home to also get within two.  She recovered from a poor approach at 15 with a great bunker shot (foreshadowing things to come) to save par.  Katherine burned the edge with a long downhill putt at 15 but remained three behind with three to go.

This next sequence nearly brought down the house.  Stanford was about two feet away for par, getting set to remain two up (if not better) with two to play, while Sorenstam was in a greenside bunker with only about ten feet of green to work with.  Naturally, Annika holed it!  The gap was only one.  Hull followed that roar with a 15-footer for birdie, bringing herself back to within two.  Moments later, Lang dropped a bomb at 17 from the front edge of the green to get within one.  If Angela Stanford had truly learned how to handle the pressure of holding a Sunday lead, here was the perfect opportunity to prove it.

At the long par-3 17^th Sorenstam left her tee shot short of the green, chipped up to four feet and settled for par.  Hull lagged her 40-footer to a foot and tapped in.  Stanford's long birdie try scooted six feet past but she calmly dropped in the comebacker.  Lang's third at 18 checked way back down the hill, forcing her to settle for par and -12 in the clubhouse.  Hull drove poorly at 18, airmailed her third and then three-putted to finish with a double-bogey.  Angela and Annika each played their thirds from just under 100 yards.  Stanford flew hers past the hole and it checked back to about 15 feet below the pin.  Sorenstam landed right of the flag and the ball rolled by the hole (just missing a winning eagle) and stopped six feet away.  Angela's birdie attempt missed left and she tapped in for par.  Putting to force a playoff, Annika got half of the ball down but it spun out.

I'll have my usual Epilogue tomorrow but I did want to mention something that Dottie Pepper said near the end of the coverage.  At 11, Katherine Hull apparently did something to cause the Tour officials to review the TV footage.  The officials were going to interview Hull about it after she finished up so there is a chance that Katherine's final standing will get changed.

One more thing tonight.  While I am thrilled that my pre-tourney pick held on to win, the significance (and I suppose, symbolism) of the late charge by Annika Sorenstam was not lost on me.  I had the distinct feeling while it was going down that all of the great play this woman has showcased over the last 15 years was being channeled through those last five electrifying holes.  That is, until the putt at 18 failed to drop.  I don't know if that miss was just an unsuccessful golf shot or not, but I do know this - Annika still has that magic in her game that made her Queen of the LPGA.