WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Each victory takes Annika Sorenstam one more step up the ladder that reaches 88 victories — the career record on the LPGA Tour and one that she never dreamed possible.

Even now, after another stellar season that winds up this week at the ADT Championship, the 35-year-old Swede isn't ready to embrace Kathy Whitworth's benchmark as a goal.

Sorenstam still wants to win the Grand Slam in one season.

She has set 10 majors as a target, and two of them this year brought her total to nine.

And looking back over the last three seasons — right after Sorenstam dropped a few hints that early retirement could be in her plans — her 23 victories put her on pace to break the record in as few as three years.

It all sounds so easy.

"If you think of the last few years, then it's realistic," she said Wednesday. "I don't know if I can keep up the high level of golf. I need to do this for another three, four or five years. I don't know if I could do that. One of the reasons is to push the body so hard. Another reason is, do I want to continue on this pace, that level, week after week?

"Obviously, I'm glad the pace hasn't slowed," she said. "I'm enjoying this ride. It's just ... it's not easy. Sometimes I look back and I say, `How was I able to win nine or 10 this year? To me, it feels so unrealistic to get there."

She can take another step starting Thursday, when Sorenstam defends her title in the season-ending ADT Championship at Trump International against the top 30 on the LPGA Tour money list.

The women's version of the Tour Championship has become an annual salute to Sorenstam's sheer dominance in women's golf. She already has wrapped up the LPGA player of the year, the money title and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, the fifth straight season she has captured the biggest awards.

She already ranks this year among her best given the upheaval in her personal life.

Sorenstam's marriage was in jeopardy through most of last season, and she filed for divorce in February. She found refuge inside the ropes, and retirement is no longer on her mind.

"Last year was a big blur," she said of a season in which she won eight times. "I really don't know how I survived a lot of it, and how I was able to focus once I was inside the ropes. This year, I had a little more energy.

"Golf has been my savior, there's no doubt about it. It's great to have something that you enjoy to fall back on. I've spent my time thinking about golf. I've added a few more tournaments. It's been very helpful."

The only disappointment was her failed bid to win the Grand Slam in one season. She captured the Kraft Nabisco Championship by eight shots, and won the LPGA Championship by three shots over Michelle Wie, a tournament that was never in doubt. But she played conservatively at Cherry Hills and never had a chance at the U.S. Women's Open.

She will try again next year.

That is a goal she believes she can reach, one that comes naturally to her.

The career mark is still too much fantasy.

"Goals have to come from within," she said. "Eighty-eight wins is something that is out there and I've just never felt that was reachable. I guess that's why ... I'm not so driven to get there. It has not been a natural goal of mine."

Whether anyone can stop her remains to be seen.

Paula Creamer, the 19-year-old rookie, comes into the ADT Championship at No. 2 on the money list by nearly $900,000 — the equivalent of about five first-place checks.

"I will do anything that I can to get to that point, and get me to the point where Annika is," Creamer said. "She is just a couple of steps ahead of me. She is the No. 1 player in the world. She has what it takes."

Sorenstam wasn't sure how long that desire would last.

She spoke three years ago about leaving the game sooner than anyone expected. She mentioned her love for cooking and the stock markets, and perhaps starting a family.

"A few years ago, things were looking a little different and I had some different plans and different goals," Sorenstam said Wednesday. "Then it took a little bit of a spin, and I had to adjust, and here I am a few years later with a different outlook on life and some different goals at the moment."

Whitworth's record is on her list.

But with another victory this week, and another big season in 2006, that could change.