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)

[presidio9]

Tell that to cschroe. I was asking a rhetorical question.

[KellyAdmirer]

I hit a ton of fairways, and make a lot of putts. Drive the ball about 300 yards when I catch it right, usually in the fairway. Thanks for asking.

[NittanyLion]

However, consider the circumstances today, I think she did great.

I think she played as good a round as she could've hoped. When I compared her score to par I thought it was incredible. Now that I've compared her to the field, she wasn't quite as good as I first believed.

[cschroe]

...if your Mom is a 20 handicap and so are you, and you both play from the same tees, she gets nada in the stroke department by the rules.

This is not correct. Each course and tee has a rating that is combined with your index to get your handicap for that day. If his mother moved from the red to the blues, there would be a correction in her handicap. BTW - Most people misuse the term handicap. A player does not get a handicap until it is combined with the course rating they are playing. Until then, it is an index.

Hmm, that makes sense. But then, going back to the original question and my response, if his Mom had a handicap (as you've laid out the definition) of 20 from the blue tees, and good son also had a handicap of 20 from the blue tees, she gets no strokes by the rules, correct?

[ewing]

Right now Annika is only beating 11 men..

[iconoclast]

What's the term for men so afraid of women that they have to pretend there are no differences between the two?

What's the term for men that are so insecure in their own masculinity that they won't give a woman credit for anything other than a well cooked meal? ;o)

[kevkrom]

Dang nab it, I knew I'd screw it up if I didn't look it up -- the round HI is calcualted by multiplying by 113 and dividing by the slope, not the other way around. The example would be 12.6, not 15.6, for the round.

[Bob J]

I think it had to happen sooner or later, but it will end up meaning nothing. No leading LPGA player is going to switch to the PGA to make a point...and lose money, wins, prestige and endorsements.

The fact is golf fans have an embarassment of riches these days. It is quite likely we are seeing the greatest man and woman ever to pic up a club, Woods and Sorenstam. There is much debate today regarding the effects of equipment technology on the game. Is Woods better than Bobby Jones? Is Sorenstam better than Zaharias? The fact is we'll never know.

However, one thing is certain. Woods and Sorenstam consistently beat their contemporaries more often and by larger margins than anyone ever has...using similar tools and playing the same courses.

[OldFriend]

Annika dissed the other women on the ladies tour big time. Complained that they don't offer her enough of a challenge. I thought the golfer played against the course not the other golfers. This is a great publicity stunt and the media loves every minute of it. Personally, I don't care!

I'm all worn out redialing for Clay!!!!

[1Old Pro]

Right now Annika is only beating 11 men..

I predicted 10 after two days.

[ewing]

Thanks for the hole by hole reports throught the day..

[Ready4Freddy]

posting from the CCC clubhouse

Unless you've already posted those requirements, it's more like vuja de (that feeling that you've never ever been here before :>)

Am unaware of any 'guidelines' such as ArneFufkin mentioned. Just asked the club Steward. He said there are none for the club.

[Bob J]

Trevino once said that if you don't consitently play at -5 on your home course, don't even think about trying to get on the tour...the Senior Tour.

[jpl]

Don't look now, but Rory Sabbatini is 3 under through 3 holes.

[kevkrom]

20 from the blue tees, and good son also had a handicap of 20 from the blue tees, she gets no strokes by the rules, correct?

Correct. The whole point of the handicap system is to allow players of any ability level to play in a competitive head-to-head environment. If both players (male, female, young, old, whatever) have the same handicap, then they play with no strokes given away either way.

[ewing]

Not until Annika makes the cut!

[presidio9]

I think she played as good a round as she could've hoped. When I compared her score to par I thought it was incredible. Now that I've compared her to the field, she wasn't quite as good as I first believed.

Now I'm wondering if her appearance will at last make people who don't watch golf regularly understand just how freakin good Tiger Woods is. Sorenstam is a good player. But there are a lot of sick players on the PGA Tour. Because Tiger dominates the big tournaments, you don't hear about them as much. Annika may have more victories than Tiger, but Tiger wins somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the events he does enter. He is as or more dominant on the PGA Tour as Sorenstam is on the LPGA Tour.

[ewing]

I think someone is going to go low at -6 or -7 before this day is over.

Annika is relying on the 10 shot rule to make the cut, but if she doesn't try and make birdies and play 'USGA style' she may be going home early..

[cschroe]

Correct. The whole point of the handicap system is to allow players of any ability level to play in a competitive head-to-head environment. If both players (male, female, young, old, whatever) have the same handicap, then they play with no strokes given away either way.

That's what I thought, and wrote. Now, if Mom had an Index of 20, and good son had an index of 20,and both played from the blues she'd get some strokes because the course rating/slope would be higher for her (as a woman) than him, therby giving her a higher handicap for that day. Correct?

[kevkrom]

I don't know how much was length off the tee and how much was conservative play. Being cubicle-bound, I didn't see anything, but it sounds like her strategy for today was center-of-fairway, center-of-green. That's going to leave some long putts and sounds like she was playing for par, hoping for no bogeys, and possibly to drain an occasional long one for birdie.

Interestingly, despite the additional pressures of competition, the 71 was the same score she shot when practicing with Tiger (who posted a 61 under the same conditions).