Sorenstam wary of chasing pack at LPGA Championship

HAVRE DE GRACE, Maryland, June 8 (Reuters) Annika Sorenstam has won the LPGA Championship for the past three years, but the long-time world No.1 has shown a little vulnerability this season.

So could the second major of the season starting at Bulle Rock in Maryland today give a further hint of a changing of the guard in women's golf? Australia's Karrie Webb, who won the season's first major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in March, and Mexico's Lorena Ochoa, who heads the money list with over 1m dollar, are the two players to have won twice this season.

And the clutch of young talent all snapping at Sorenstam's heels, and all desperate to become a teenage major winner, includes the American trio of 16-year-old Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, 19, and Morgan Pressel, 18.

But Sorenstam says she is not fazed by the growing list of players wanting to end her six-year reign at the top of the world rankings.

''It is tough to stay at the top because players are getting better and fitter all the time,'' said the 35-year-old Swede.

''But I've been out her a long time and I just want to keep grinding away and see what happens. This week is special because I have the chance to become the first player to win the Championship four years in a row. That's the sort of thing that motivates me.'' REUTERS AY KP1025