updated 12:59 a.m. ET Oct. 18, 2006

PALM DESERT, Calif. - It might be time for Annika Sorenstam to stop looking ahead at Kathy Whitworth, and start looking over her shoulder at Lorena Ochoa.

The way Sorenstam had been rolling over opponents and piling up trophies, the 36-year-old Swede quickly was approaching Whitworth’s 88 career victories. Sorenstam had averaged nearly nine wins a year since 2001 — at that pace, she could have broken the record before her 40th birthday.

But that sprint has slowed considerably.

With two tournaments remaining on her 2006 schedule, Sorenstam has won three times this year, her lowest output since winning twice in 1999. Part of that is the balance she has found in her life, including a golf academy she is opening in Orlando, Fla.

And part of that is the competition.

Ochoa’s victory in the Samsung World Championship was her fifth of the year. It not only denied Sorenstam her 70th career victory, it kept her from setting an LPGA record with six straight years leading the tour in victories.

One tournament doesn’t make a season. One victory doesn’t mean there’s a new sheriff in town.

Sorenstam is the five-time defending champion at the Mizuno Classic in Japan in two weeks, and the two-time defending champion at the season-ending ADT Championship. She could win them both and capture the money title, maybe even LPGA player of the year.

But there was something symbolic about the way Ochoa ran her down in the desert.

Starting the final round three shots behind, Ochoa sensed this was her time. She erased the deficit in three holes with two birdies and a 45-foot eagle putt. The pivotal hole was No. 10, and some luck was involved. Ochoa made a birdie putt from across the green that would have gone well past the hole had it not banged into the back of the cup and dropped in the side.

Women's world rankings Player Country Score 1. Lorena Ochoa Mexico 19.54 2. Annika Sorenstam Sweden 11.52 3. Suzann Pettersen Norway 9.00 4. Paula Creamer USA 7.94 5. Karrie Webb Australia 6.34 6. Yani Tseng Taiwan 6.16 7. Cristie Kerr USA 5.31 8. Seon-Hwa Lee S. Korea 5.13 9. Jeong Jang S. Korea 5.12 10. Ji-Yai Shin S. Korea 4.83 Through July 6

Even so, it was as if Ochoa saw this coming.

She was asked after the third round whether she could beat Sorenstam.

“Yes.”

There was a pause, and a slight smile crept across her face.

“You want more?” she said, as if to say, “Isn’t that enough?”

Then she obliged with a beautiful blend of giving Sorenstam her due and having a quiet confidence in her own game, something not often heard from today’s wannabe challengers who grow up talking about wanting to be No. 1.

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“I know she is tough. I think she is a great player. She knows this course so much better than me and she has so much experience, and I respect all that,” Ochoa said. “At the same time, I believe in myself. I’m in a good position right now. I know I can do it.”

Ochoa had played against Sorenstam two other times in the final group. She blew a four-shot lead in the final three holes and lost to Sorenstam in a playoff in Phoenix last year, and Sorenstam birdied the final hole in Sweden this summer to win by one shot.

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