Golf across the globe: Sorenstam hits 70

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With all the excitement and preparation for this week's coming World Golf Championships -- Accenture Match Play Championship, let's not forget about what a great week was had around the world last week in golf -- starting with Annika Sorenstam's 70th victory.

Annika Sorenstam celebrates a birdie on the 17th hole during the final round of the SBS Open. (Lyons/Getty Images)

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LAST WEEK

Event: SBS Open at Turtle Bay
Sanctioned by: LPGA Tour
• Taking home a check for $165,000 and her first title since September 2006 -- when she won the State Farm Classic -- wasn't all Annika Sorenstam had to smile about in Hawaii this past weekend. The 37-year-old Swede's two-stroke victory at Turtle Bay was also her 70th career win, a goal she has been trying to attain for well over a year. With this latest win, Sorenstam maintains her spot in third place for all-time LPGA wins behind Mickey Wright with 82 and Kathy Whitworth with 88.
• A trio of Russy Gulyanamitta, Laura Diaz and Jane Park tied for second place behind Sorenstam while last year's SBS Open champion Paula Creamer came in tied for 12th. Other notable finishes at Turtle Bay were Angela Park (tied for fifth), Cristie Kerr (tied for 8th) and Suzann Pettersen (tied for 16th). The LPGA's No. 1, Lorena Ochoa, did not compete in last week's event.

Event: Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open
Co-sanctioned by: European Tour, Asian Tour
• Chile's Felipe Aguilar earned his first European Tour victory last week at the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open. Aguilar's win did not come easy as he battled furiously in the final round with India's Jeev Milkha Singh. Aguilar began Sunday with a two-shot lead over Singh, but Singh's determined play, which included an eagle on the sixth hole, vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard by the middle of the round. A shootout ensued as the two men played a game of catch-and-overtake with each other that culminated in an 18th-hole decision. A bogey by Singh and a birdie by Aguilar gave the Chilean the win, and he took home roughly $200,000 in prize money.
• Other notable finishes in the field were a tie for third from James Kamte -- a recent Sunshine Tour winner -- a tie for 10th from Arjun Atwal, a tie for 21st from Darren Clarke and a tie for 35th from South Africa's Thomas Aiken who also competes on the Nationwide Tour. Defending champion Mikko Ilonen came in tied for 50th.

Event: Vodacom Championship
Sanctioned by: Sunshine Tour
• "Victory over 40" were the words to be heard in South Africa last week as the 42-year-old native James Kingston secured a win at Pretoria Country Club. It has only been a few months since Kingston's last win, the South African Airways Championship in December 2007. Kingston's low round of the day, 65, was enough to give him an edge over Brazil's Adilson Da Silva who had held the lead since the second round. With birdies on his three last holes of the day, Kingston overtook Da Silva to top the leaderboard and earn himself a little under $50,000 in first-place winnings.
• Louis Oosthuizen, who flirted with victory at last month's European Tour event -- the Dubai Desert Classic -- finished with a tie for eighth at the Vodacom Championship seven shots back from the champion. Victor of the Africa Open two weeks ago, Shaun Norris, tied for 12th while his runner up at the Africa Open, Nic Henning, came in with a tie for 29th.

Event: HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship
Co-sanctioned by: PGA Tour of Australasia and Nationwide Tour
• In the first leg of double Down Under events that the Australasian Tour and the Nationwide Tour compete in together, New Zealand almost had a home-grown win. Local favorite David Smail came close to the win but lost by one stroke to the USA's Darron Stiles. Perhaps had the weather not been so uncooperative, things could have worked out differently for Smail and Stiles -- the rainy event at Christchurch's Clearwater Resort was reduced to only 36 holes after a washed-out weekend halted play beyond any extension. Stiles won $117,000.
• Another American player came in solo third place, Rick Price, while Australia's Adam Crawford claimed fourth place for himself. Other notable finishes include a tie for fifth from D.A. Points and a tie for 15th from Argentina's Miguel Angel Carballo shared with the USA's Scott Dunlap -- who won the Nationwide Tour's season opener (the Panama Movistar Championship) -- and Australia's Jarrod Lyle (among others), who won two weeks ago at the Mexico Open.

Henrik Stenson kisses the trophy at last year's WGC -- Accenture Match Play Championships. (Lyons/Getty Images)

THIS WEEK

Event: World Golf Championships -- Accenture Match Play Championship
Co-sanctioned by: European Tour, Asian Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and the PGA TOUR
• The World Golf Championships -- Accenture Match Play Championship returns to the Gallery at Dove Mountain in Tucson, Ariz., for the second time in two years.
• The top 64 players in Official World Golf Ranking will compete in match play with America's Tiger Woods garnering the No. 1 seed. The world's No. 65 at the time of qualifying, J.B. Holmes, will also get to compete due to an injury-induced withdrawal from Brett Wetterich.
• To see the brackets for this event, click here. For a printable pdf version, click here.
• Defending champion Henrik Stenson goes into the first round as a No. 4 seed paired up against No. 13 Robert Allenby in the Ben Hogan bracket.
• More notable first-round matchups are No. 1 overall seed Tiger Woods vs. No. 16 J.B. Holmes in the Bobby Jones bracket, No. 1 Phil Mickelson vs. No. 16 Pat Perez in the Gary Player bracket, No. 6 Martin Kaymer vs. No. 11 Boo Weekley in the Ben Hogan bracket and No. 8 Retief Goosen vs. No. 9 Andres Romero also in the Ben Hogan bracket.

Event: Telkom PGA Championship
Sanctioned by: Sunshine Tour
• Louis Oosthuizen, who finished tied for eighth at last week's Vodacom Championship will be defending his 2007 Telkom title this week at the Country Club Johannesburg.
• Also look out in the field for Thomas Aiken, who competed in the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open last week, Marc Cayeux, last week's Vodacom runner up Adilson Da Silva, Nic Henning and last week's winner James Kingston.

Event: Moonah Classic
Co-sanctioned by: PGA Tour of Australasia and Nationwide Tour
• Played at Moonah Links in Australia's Mornington Peninsula, the Moonah Classic is the second of the two events Down Under co-sanctioned by both the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Nationwide Tour.
• The Moonah Classic is a new event, so first-time-winner bragging rights are up for grabs this week in Australia's Victoria province.
• Look out for these notables in the field: Brendan de Jonge, Scott Dunlap, Matthew Every, Jarrod Lyle, Darron Stiles, D.A. Points and Andrew Bonhomme.

Event: Fields Open in Hawaii
Sanctioned by: LPGA Tour
• For the second consecutive week, the LPGA will compete in the Aloha State, this time at the Ko Olina Resort in Honolulu.
• Stacy Prammanasudh, who tied for 32nd last week at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay will be defending her title against a strong field that includes last week's winner Sorenstam, last week's runners up Diaz, Park and Gulyanamitta as well as Creamer and Se Ri Pak.
• For the second week, the LPGA No. 1, Ochoa, will not compete.

NEXT WEEK

• The European Tour and the Asian tour head back to India for the Johnnie Walker Classic where they will also be joined by the PGA Tour of Australasia.
• The Sunshine Tour will compete at Mount Edgecombe Golf Club for the Mount Edgecombe Trophy.
• The LPGA shoots across the Pacific to Singapore for the HSBC Women's Champions, where Lorena Ochoa will make her 2008 debut.

Not playing this week:
• The Japan Tour will not have an event until mid April.