KAHUKU — When she smoothly sank a 24-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole yesterday, Annika Sorenstam quickly dropped to a knee and furiously pumped her right fist.

Right then and there, on the patch of grass where she clinched the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, a lot changed for Sorenstam.

Until the last couple of days, the talk was about the 37-year-old Sorenstam's ailing back and neck.

Now it is that she is back.

Sorenstam's milestone 70th career victory — only Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright have more — propelled her past $21 million in career earnings. But the importance of this one was measured in more than numbers and money for one who had finally exited her longest victory drought in 14 years on the LPGA Tour.

For someone who had won almost routinely over the years, averaging eight victories a year between 2000 and '05, this was one to be savored. The two-stroke victory at 10-under-par 206 came with feelings that she fought to put into words. Perhaps when struggle teaches you the value of something you had previously come to take for granted, you appreciate it more. Sorenstam clearly did.

Indeed, the injuries and the difficulty in regaining her Hall of fame form had given Sorenstam a glimpse of how the other half lived. For one who came by winning putts almost, it seemed, by looking at them, struggle was a rare and largely new dimension. Even if the fall — all the way to fourth in the rankings — was hardly a precipitous one.

Since September of 2006 — an eternity when you have been an eight-time player of the year and the tour's all-time money winner — she had gone without an LPGA victory. "A struggle; not a (period) inside the ropes that I want to remember," Sorenstam said.

Into the leadership vacuum had charged Lorena Ochoa to supplant Sorenstam as No. 1 and others were leapfrogging her or nipping at her heels.

So, yes, regaining her winning form was very much on Sorenstam's mind. It was the LPGA question of the year entering 2008. The question of if she could win — and when — also confronted her from the closet and even in her wine cellar. Back in October of 2006, with 69 victories and in anticipation of a soon-to-come 70th, her sister, Charlotta, had given her a T-shirt with No. 70 on it. A friend gave her a bottle of wine with No. 70 inscribed.

The T-shirt, Annika said, is "probably dusty." The bottle of wine: "It's mature. It's probably even better. It's all strategy," she said with a smile and a wink.

Yes, like a — now — very fine wine, this victory is one to be savored.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.