Island Packet Verizon Heritage 2008 Coverage | Harbour Town, Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island, SC

Cristie Kerr hugged Annika Sorenstam, hugged her again, then nearly gave us one of those uh-oh moments in live television.

"Holy shhhhhh-nikeys!" Kerr gushed, switching paths when she caught the TV camera staring her in the face.

Kerr was reacting to Sorenstam's miraculous hole-out for eagle on the 18th hole of the U.S. Women's Open on Sunday, which gave us the first truly great moment of the unofficial Sorenstam Retirement Tour.

The shot was 200 yards to a slightly elevated green. Sorenstam hit six-iron. She didn't see the ball roll into the cup because she couldn't see the cup, but the crowd let her know what had happened.

Sorenstam threw her arms into the air, then proclaimed: "How ironic."

Yes, ironic, because the shot allowed her to break 80 in what might be the retiring Swede's final appearance at the major championship where she claimed her first career victory 13 years ago.

Although Sorenstam finished 12 shots behind eventual winner Inbee Park, that fact was overshadowed by the realization that she had just holed a 200-yard shot on her 1,026th U.S. Women's Open hole to save a 78.

"I was hoping for memories this week" said Sorenstam, "but that was a different type of memory."

And long overdue, frankly.

Since Sorenstam announced her retirement May 13, she has sniffed the top-10 only once in five tournaments. The past seven weeks were supposed to be the first seven weeks of the Sorenstam vs. Ochoa Show, scheduled for a too-short six-month run. But that hasn't panned out either.

Lorena Ochoa, the Mexican star who replaced Sorenstam as the world No. 1 last year, won the Sybase Classic the week Sorenstam announced her retirement. But she has played just three times since then without a win. She and Sorenstam tied for third place at the last women's major, the McDonald's LPGA, but that's as close as we've gotten to a showdown since the announcement.

It became clear, too, as both players struggled through the first three rounds at Interlachen that the U.S. Women's Open wouldn't mark the first tussle, either. (Ochoa finished two shots behind Sorenstam, tied for 31st.)

And so Sorenstam's eagle was a welcome sight, a quick whiff of the dramatic at the end of a weekend that looked like it would go down as being equal parts disappointing and historic.

"It was so ironic," said Sorenstam. "I didn't want to shoot 80 or above. And to hole a shot from 200 yards, that's kind of the last thing you think about. But obviously I'll take it. The crowd was just amazing, the cheers. When I walked up it was so loud, it was so much fun."

The crowd wasn't alone in cheering for Sorenstam.

Kerr, who has battled Sorenstam the past 12 seasons, finally winning her first major at last year's U.S. Women's Open, was suddenly a fan herself. If only for a few minutes.

"You never cease to amaze me," she told Sorenstam on the 18th green. "That's the best shot I've ever seen."

Though Sorenstam will walk away from the game at the end of the season, she hasn't exactly closed the book on her career. She even knows exactly where she would come back, if she ever did.

"It will definitely be at the [U.S.] Open," she said.

But the fact remains that golf fans may only have one more chance to see Sorenstam at a major championship -- next month's Women's British Open, where she will take another run at career major No. 11.

It's the only major she hasn't won three times. And although she's cooled since winning three times earlier this season, Sorenstam's happy with where her game stands.

"I'm hitting the ball the way I want, and it just didn't happen this week," she said. "But the year has been great and I have a few more tournaments, so maybe I can change it around and finish strong."

Here's hoping -- at least -- for a few more moments like Sunday's eagle.