Sorenstam isn't retiring type: Other notes

The final LPGA major of the year, the Women's British Open, began Thursday in Sunningdale, England. It would make for a terrific storyline if Annika Sorenstam can resurrect her old magic: An all-time great player, making one last, emotional start in a major championship, walks away with the trophy.

Of course, this depends on your definition of "last."

In announcing her impending departure from the LPGA Tour in May, Sorenstam carefully avoided the word "retirement." She insisted she was "stepping away" from the game, eager to start a family and devote time to her business interests, and it required no sixth sense to picture Sorenstam eventually returning to the fray.

On Tuesday, in her pre-tournament news conference at Sunningdale, Sorenstam came closer than ever to saying she would pull a Brett Favre reverse pivot one day. Asked about a potential comeback in two or three years, she said, "I wouldn't say in two or three years, no. I'm not really sure. I want to start the next chapter in my life and see what happens. If I get the urge, then I know I can come back."

One translation: She'll be back in, oh, 2012.

It makes sense, in many ways. Sorenstam, 37, can start a family with fiance Mike McGee (their wedding is scheduled for January) and then rejoin the tour, kids in tow, when she begins to miss the buzz of competition. Even at age 41 or 42, she could be one of the top players in the world. Juli Inkster, now 48, fell out of the top 10 only this year.

"No, the door is not closed -- that's why I didn't use the R word," Sorenstam said. "I said I'm stepping away, and all of my sponsors are staying with me. Maybe they're hoping I'll come back. ... I'll keep my game alive. Maybe not to the extent it is today, but I will still be swinging and doing clinics."

Asked what she will miss most upon leaving the tour, she said, "I love coming down the stretch when you have to hit that perfect 7-iron or hole a putt to win. There's a special adrenaline that pumps, and I think I'll miss that."

Sorenstam had an amazing run in the majors: She won eight in a six-year stretch (2001-06). She stumbled in '07 (nothing better than a tie for 15th), but this year she tied for second in the Kraft Nabisco Championship and tied for third in the LPGA Championship. She also tied for 24th in the U.S. Women's Open, and is well back at the British after an opening round even-par 72, seven shots behind leader Juli Inkster.

ARGO POWER: This would make sense if the school were Stanford. Or Oklahoma State. Or any other traditional college-golf heavyweight.

But Notre Dame de Namur?

The tiny school in Belmont, Cailf., just a Bubba Watson drive off Highway 101, will send two players to the U.S. Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C. Kory Storer and Mike Prescott, both of whom played at Notre Dame and graduated in May, qualified for the Amateur in a sectional Monday at Peninsula Golf & Country Club in San Mateo.

Storer and Prescott each shot 2-over 144 in the 36-hole event. They joined medalist Andrey Mindirgasov (even-par 142) of Pacific Grove in advancing to the wickedly domed greens of Pinehurst No. 2.

The Amateur is scheduled for Aug. 18-24.

SWEDISH SURPRISE: On the brink of next week's PGA Championship, here's a slice of trivia to contemplate: Only one player has finished in the top 10 at the first three men's majors. No, not Tiger Woods (absent for the British Open). And not Phil Mickelson (not enough drivers at the U.S. Open, too much wind at the British).

The answer: Robert Karlsson.

Karlsson, a 38-year-old from Sweden, is the personification of low profile, at least in the United States -- he's not even a member of the PGA Tour. But he's third on the Order of Merit, the European Tour's money list, and he stands No. 22 in the world rankings. Karlsson tied for eighth in the Masters, tied for fourth in the U.S. Open (where he played alongside Woods during the latter's memorable third round) and tied for seventh in the British Open.

Four players have posted two top-10s in majors this season: Woods, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Brandt Snedeker and Padraig Harrington.

(E-mail Ron Kroichick at rkroichick@sfchronicle.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)