HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. — Annika Sorenstam is making the Grand Slam look like a slam dunk.
Never threatened from the start, sloppy at the end when it no longer mattered, Sorenstam took another step toward a sweep of the four majors Sunday by closing with a 1-over 73 for a three-shot victory over Michelle Wie in the LPGA Championship.
Sorenstam became the first LPGA Tour player in 19 years to get halfway home to a Grand Slam, and no one has any reason to believe she won't win the next two.
First came an eight-shot victory at the Kraft Nabisco in March. This one was just as dominant, with Sorenstam building an eight-shot lead at the turn and leaving everyone else in a hopeless pursuit.
Sorenstam finished at 11-under 277 and earned $270,000, pushing her career total to more than $17 million. Since playing in the Colonial on the PGA Tour two years ago, she has won 19 of her 38 events on the LPGA Tour.
Her only competition came from the 15-year-old Wie, who gave another big crowd at Bulle Rock a glimpse of the future with a 69 to finish second — the highest finish by an amateur in a major since 20-year-old Jenny Chuasiriporn lost a playoff to Se Ri Pak in the 1998 U.S. Women's Open.
Sorenstam won for the sixth time in eight starts this year, and joined Patty Berg as the only LPGA players to win the same major three consecutive years. Berg won the Titleholders from 1937-39.
BOOZ ALLEN CLASSIC: At Bethesda, Md., Sergio Garcia emerged from a pack of contenders to master Congressional's Blue Course as few others have, closing with a 6-under 65 for a two-stroke victory in the Booz Allen Classic.
Garcia looked in major form in the final tournament before the U.S. Open when he took a big lead with a front-nine 30 and then held steady through a few precarious holes down the stretch. He finished with a 14-under 270 total.
Davis Love III (66), Ben Crane (67) and 2004 winner Adam Scott (68) tied for second.
Garcia's 270 total tied the course record at Congressional, which wasn't its usual fearsome self in its first PGA Tour event in eight years. Craig Stadler shot a 10-under 270 when the Booz Allen, then known as the Kemper Open, was played on the Blue Course in a different configuration in 1981.
Third-round leader Tom Kite, attempting to become the oldest winner in PGA Tour history at age 55, shot a 74 to tie for 13th at 7-under 277.
Garcia's sixth PGA Tour victory helped compensate for his collapse in last month's Wachovia Championship, when the 25-year-old Spanish star blew a six-shot lead in the final round before losing to Vijay Singh in a three-way playoff. Garcia also won the Buick Classic last year the week before the U.S. Open.
BAYER ADVANTAGE CLASSIC: At Overland Park, Kan., Gil Morgan and Dana Quigley, the leaders in the clubhouse when rain suspended play, will have to wait until Monday afternoon to find out whether they'll meet in a sudden-death playoff in the Bayer Advantage Classic.
When the storm system that has plagued the tournament all week forced the suspension Sunday, three players were still on the course within three strokes of the leaders in the Champions Tour event.
Morgan, with an early tee time, shot a 5-under 68 and Quigley came in a short time later with a 66, tying him with Morgan at 11-under 133.
When play was halted, Rodger Davis was 8 under for the tournament through nine holes, Dan Pohl was 8 under through 11 and hometown favorite Tom Watson, after reeling off two straight birdies just ahead of the rain, was 8 under through six.
LASALLE BANK OPEN: At Glenview, Ill., former Florida player Chris Couch won his second Nationwide Tour title of the year to move within a victory of a promotion to PGA Tour, shooting a 4-under 67 for a four-stroke victory in the LaSalle Bank Open.
Couch, also the Rheem Classic winner on May 15, earned $135,000 to jump from fifth to first on the money list with $275,995. The only player in the field with four rounds in the 60s, he finished at 15-under 269 on The Glen Club course.
Couch, also second in the Virginia Beach Open in late April, earned a spot in the PGA Tour's Western Open on June 31-July 3 at Cog Hill.
Kevin Durkin (67), Paul Gow (68) and Mario Tiziani (68) tied for second at 11 under.
KLM OPEN: At Hilversum, Netherlands, Spanish rookie Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won his first European PGA Tour title, shooting a 3-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over England's Gary Emerson in the KLM Open.