Annika Meets the Boys at Colonial [Finishes Day +1]

CBS Sports/USA Network and PGA.com ^ | May 22, 2003 | Jim Nantz

[ewing]

LPGA player Annika Sorenstam will be teeing off shortly in a men's PGA event at the Colonial Country Club [the first time in 60 years this has happened]

Live shot for shot coverage as long as she is in contention to make the cut on USA Networks, PGA Radio is free today for those cubicle bound and wanting live update (link included)

[vrwinger]

Good to have you back...

[daylate-dollarshort]

...what you said.

[TomB]

No, really. Unless they specifically look for "Bank of America" on the webscreen, the thousands of people who go to PGA Tour.com looking for her score will never see it. Notice: the person who created this thread refers to the tournament as "The Colonial." That's just what happens. The sponsor's name in the title is unwieldy and dropped by normal people.

I'm not talking about the webite. I'm talking about the amount of buzz that this tournament has generated by inviting Annika. Looking at the coverage it is getting, and how well she is doing, there is no possible way you can say this wasn't a good move on the part of Bank of America.

[vrwinger]

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yardage	565	400	476	246	470	393	427	192	402	3,571	404	609	433	178	457	430	188	383	427	3,509	7,080
Par	5	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	35	4	5	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	35	70
Sorenstam*	5	4	4	3	5	4	4				4	5	4	2	4	4	3	4	4	34
+/-	-1	-1	-1	-1	E	E	E				E	E	E	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1

[dwilli]

That's fair. That's a long way from saying, as some did, that she has no business playing with the talent on the PGA tour. She has made her point, she wanted to see how she would do against the worlds best. No matter what, she has
justified her desire.

[Bob J]

Not to mention the fact that if Annika makes the cut and actually plays more PGA events, she'll pull in a ton of female viewers and the entire tour will benefit.

At the expense of the LPGA.

[lews]

"...if Annika makes the cut and actually plays more PGA events..."

Honestly, I think that this is a one time deal and that she would never leave the comfort of the LPGA for the PGA. Why, after all, would she leave the LPGA where she is the star player, to become a mediocre player in the PGA. She would lose allot of prize money by making the switch. I also believe that once the novelty of a woman in the PGA wears off her endorsements would dry up and in the end would be worse. Financially speaking, I think it would be a mistake.

[Interesting Times]

Amazing how people will argue a point endlessly without bothering to do any research.

Here is an article that provides some actual data, just to get the ball rolling.

3 Feet - 83%
6 Feet - 55%
10 Feet - 33%
15 Feet - 17%
25 Feet - 10%

[Dolphy]

But she is a helluva golfer

That she is and I am glad to see her hanging in there and (at least so far) not collapsing under the pressure. In many ways this is Sunday of major event for her and many a golfer has lost it under the media and gallery glare.

[presidio9]

A lot of short pin positions on the front of the greens. But this is fairly typical for Tursday in this (or any tournament). They tend to put the flag in the most difficult spot on Sunday.

[Teacher317]

Thanks, but the power is still out... I can't give the visual. The power company apparently is working on a neighbor's house, at just the wrong time for me, LOL.

[Mr. Mojo]

BTW, I equate what Annika is doing as about the same as Cory Pavin hanging in there with the long hitting pros. He even won, on occasion. Could still win on occasion.

Annika is playing very well, but do you honestly think she could ever actually win a tournament on the PGA tour?

[William McKinley]

I don't really think her concern needs to be with the LPGA. She has benefitted them tremendously over the years, and if she does not abandon that tour, she's going to bring fans over to it as a result of this.

But if she chooses to leave the LPGA to play on the PGA, I bet the LPGA would survive.

[colorado tanker]

I just don't get why the emotional debate. She's playing by the same rules as the men, from the same tees. The general rule in sports that have classes based on physical characteristics is that it's OK to play up in class but not OK to play down. Having a middleweight box a heavyweight in the heavyweight class would not change the level of competition, but having a heavyweight box in the middleweight class would completely change the competition. So, to me the idea that allowing a woman to play in a mens tournament is a precedent for letting men play in womens tournaments is just nutty.

I think Annika only wants to play a mens tournament to get a gauge on just how good is she. If she decided to try to join the mens tour (which I doubt) then she'd have to go through to regular qualification process.

[presidio9]

Only if she makes the cut. And the facts were that you would not have expected her to make the cut going in. She has an average short game in comparision to the ladies, and she is extremenly short in comparison to the men. If she makes the cut, I'm all for having her play in this year's US Open.

[BOOTSTICK]

Whats next?, women playing against Major Leauge Baseball players?, hurling 70 mph fastballs, and hitting 290 foot flyouts?

[Protagoras]

Six footers are not gimmies. I saw a stat once that said 10 footers for pros were less than 50%. It seems about right.

And as for the 25ers, I'm not sure what "regularly" means, but they make their share. They aren't really that rare. In fact, in my weekend rounds, I'd say I see at least two "bombs" over the two rounds, and that's from crummy players.

I can see why the other poster got the impression though. When watching TV, they always show those long ones, it makes for good viewing, but it can be misleading.

[1Old Pro]

How's she doing on Hole #8 ?

[pkjeff]

Facts are stubborn things

:-)

[Teacher317]

Patty Sheehan at -5,
Forsman finishes at -4,
10 at -3,
12 at -2,
13 at -1,
and 14 in Annika's group at par.

The other half of the field tees off in a few minutes