Sorenstam lands birdies as wind falls

The strong, gusting winds blowing through the desert made conditions difficult in yesterday's first round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, but Annika Sorenstam still found it all a bit of a breeze.

The Swede is chasing a place in history, aiming to become the first player to win this major three years in succession, and five birdies at the Mission Hills course suggested she means serious business.

Hitting it long, straight and constantly peppering the flag, it was just a case of how many putts she could hole as she made inroads on par. She did have one bad hole, nearly hitting her tee shot out of bounds at the 16th, but came back in typically efficient fashion with birdies from inside 12 feet at the final two holes.

"I stood on the range in the morning and my nine-iron shots were only going 110 yards compared to a normal 135 yards and I thought the wind would probably get worse and it was going to be a really long day," she said.

"I'd gone out with level par as my target, but the wind suddenly dropped on the back nine and I couldn't be happier with four under."

Laura Davies had a roller-coaster ride but in the end was only two behind Sorenstam. A birdie at the long 2nd was a promising start, but three bogeys in the next five holes had to be repaired by a birdie at the short 8th for a one-over 37 to the turn. Birdies at the 12th, 14th and the last kept the momentum going as she finished with a 70, two under .

Karen Stupples, born in Kent but a resident of Florida, shared in the British challenge. Making her debut in the championship, she started par, birdie, birdie and went on to shoot 71.