Monday, July 3 2006 15:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Newport: Sweden's Annika Sorenstam and Pat Hurst will square off in a playoff on Monday after the Swedish superstar had a near miss on 18 that would have given her a third US Women's Open title.

Sorenstam's long birdie putt just caught the right edge of the hole as she and Hurst, of the US, both parred the final hole in Sunday's third LPGA major.

Sorenstam and Hurst will be back on the Newport Country Club course on Monday for an 18-hole playoff to decide who gets the $560,000 first prize.

The golfers played 36 holes on Sunday after fog blanketted the course on Thursday. There was little time for the players to enjoy lunch, barely 30 minutes between the end of the third round and the beginning of the final round.

Sorenstam flirted with US Open wins in 2002, 2003 and 2004 but it has been nine years since her last US Open victory.

This is the first time in six years she has gone winless in the first two majors of the year. Hurst is trying to become the first American to win a major since Meg Mallon won the US Open in 2004. A string of South Koreans and Sorenstam have dominated most of the seven majors since.



South Korea's Se Ri Pak and Australia's Karrie Webb won the first two majors of 2006.