Karrie Webb found herself in what recently has been an unfamiliar spot Saturday. She actually will sit atop the leaderboard going into the final round.
That used to be a regular occurrence for Webb, the owner of 29 LPGA Tour victories. But an extended slump has left the 29-year-old Australian searching for answers.
Webb hopes she found a few of them by shooting a 64 in the second round of the Kellogg-Keebler Classic at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora. At 11 under par she has a two-shot lead over Jill McGill and Seon-An Jeon.
Webb is four strokes ahead of two-time defending Kellogg-Keebler champion Annika Sorenstam, who fought back into contention with a 66.
A few years back, the natural order of women’s golf was Webb at the top, with the rest of the field, including Sorenstam, chasing her.
Webb’s dominance peaked when she won her second straight U.S. Women’s Open at the Merit Club in Gurnee in 2000.
Then Sorenstam began her amazing run in 2001, blasting past Webb into a new stratosphere for golf. Webb, meanwhile, slowly began to slip.
Webb won only once last year, finishing out of the top 10 on the money list for the first time in her career, in the No. 11 spot. This season, she came into the Kellogg-Keebler with only one top-10 finish and ranks 23rd on the money list.
When asked if she could recall the last time she registered 10 birdies in a round as she did Saturday, Webb shook her head and said, “No, I don’t remember.”
There haven’t been many positives for Webb to dwell on lately.
“I’ve been working on a few things,” Webb said. “It has been really good on the range, but I haven’t really carried it into the tournament rounds. I just haven’t had any momentum. When you need to make a putt here or you need to put a good swing on it there, I haven’t done that.”
Webb admits the frustration got to her last year. After playing at such a high level for so long, it was difficult for her to accept anything less than the Hall-of-Fame standard she had established. Webb already has met the qualifications for enshrinement.
Looking back, Webb realizes that attitude might have made things worse. She decided to step back and reflect on all she has accomplished.
“Last year, I didn’t deal with it very well,” Webb said. “I’m trying not to be as hard on myself. I think when I was younger it used to fire me up to be really hard on myself. Now I listen to myself too much and it doesn’t do that anymore. I have to be a bit kinder on myself.”
It was easier for Webb to be easy on herself after Saturday’s round. She got off to a quick start with a 32 on the front side and matched it on the back.
Webb’s round gave her some breathing distance from Sorenstam. After shooting a 71 Friday, Sorenstam got back into contention with a run of four straight birdies beginning at the 12th hole.
“It was absolute revenge from yesterday,” Sorenstam said. “I thought I hit the ball pretty good yesterday; I just couldn’t put it together. Obviously, I feel a little better climbing up the leaderboard.”
Sorenstam, though, will have to make a big climb Sunday to win her third straight Kellogg-Keebler title. The last time she won after trailing by four strokes going into the final round was in 2001. She made up a 10-stroke deficit to win the Office Depot.
Sorenstam knows she might have to go lower than 66.
“I’m going to have to have a low round, something like today or maybe even lower,” Sorenstam said. “On this course, the scoring always has been low. I’m not going to have a score in mind, but I need to go out there and be aggressive.”
Webb also knows what she needs to do. Even though it has been a while since her last victory, she still has won many times before.
“I’m pleased with my two rounds,” Webb said. “I have to do what I did the last two days and, hopefully, that will be good enough.”
