KENT golfer Karen Stupples got her new season off to a flying start by finishing second behind world number one Annika Sörenstam in the ANZ Masters the at Royal Pines GC in Surfers Paradise on Australia's Gold Coast at the weekend.

The 30-year-old, from Deal, finished four shots behind Sorenstam, who finished with a 19-under par total of 269 after a final round seven-under-par 65. Stupples put in a brave performance with her own final round of 68.

No culpability can be attributed to Stupples as Sorenstam, the world's best woman golfer, was in irrepressible form, carding five birdies and an eagle in a faultless display.

Sörenstam raced out of the blocks with a birdie at the first while Stupples racked up a scrappy bogey to drop three shots back. And when the Sörenstam poured in a 25-foot putt for eagle at the third hole, Stupples admitted that it took the wind out of her sails.

From that point on, Sörenstam was never threatened and she played the perfect role of Pied Piper as the galleries followed her every move around Royal Pines and were treated to an exhibition of sheer excellence.

A further three birdies took Sörenstam out in 31 and despite making only one birdie on the back nine, the victory was in the bag early on.

"I'm glad I got off to a hot start," said Sörenstam, who notched up her 58th career win world-wide.

"It's so sweet to win again. The eagle at the third was definitely key moment and after that, I kept the momentum going on the front nine and played much better on the back nine. I never put myself in any trouble, so I guess my plan came true for me."

Stupples, despite the loss, was proud of the way she played and admitted that the best player took the spoils. "Annika played supremely well today," admitted Stupples, who now heads to Sydney for this week's AAMI Women's Australian Open.

"I'm very happy with the way I played over the weekend but I got to the stage this afternoon where I was thinking 'what do I have to do?'.

"I really wanted to win this tournament, but Annika got off to a great start and I didn't. But I'm looking forward to this week. There's no Annika there!"