Annika Sorenstam’s Big Adventure

WashingtonDispatch ^ | 5/26/2003 | Marvin Galloway

[MHGinTN]

Annika Sorenstam made modern history this past week. She wasn’t the first woman to play a PGA men’s event, but she was the first since many decades ago to do it. In reality, the Colonial is a professional golfer’s event. At first, I derided her for seeking to play the Colonial event, seeking to compete with the men … but I was wrong and she proved me wrong.

What Annika did had a lot of controversy attached to it. Male and female golfers were perplexed, and people who don’t even haunt the links were at odds over the spectacle.

"Annika didn’t do so great, she didn’t even make the cut for the final two rounds." Or perhaps you feel like ... "Annika did great, because she hit off of the same tees as all the other competitors in the event and she even ended up scoring better for her two days than eleven male competitors scored." Those last two sentences are at odds, aren’t they? That’s the nature of controversy. Let’s take a closer look at the realities.

[MHGinTN]

Rest of the essay is at THIS LINK

[MHGinTN]

Ping-a-ling-a-ling

[Thebaddog]

If she wasn't even first as an entrant, then this really is just a staged stunt to get in the face of the white boy. I think that that was a waste of time in that light.

[JimRed]

She tried; she failed. The guys she did beat should consider another line of work.

[Don Corleone]

No truth to the rumor that on instructions from CBS Pope John Paul II is going to name her "Saint Anika".

[MHGinTN]

If you really believe what you posted, you don't understand golf or the 'sine curve' of professional competition, the ups and downs.

[duckln]

The guys she beat should qualify for the LPG tournaments.

[microgood]

I agree. Even Sergio Garcia missed the cut.

[HatSteel]

She did a great job and is a great player. I'm convinced she would improve if she played that level consistently, but she'd also be poor. She might make it to the middle of the pack on occasion.

On the ladies' tour she's top dog and wins lots of money.

[2rightsleftcoast]

Am I the only one out here who wonders what the He## the big fuss is about. She played for a publicity stunt,IMHO.
I don't want women to play pro golf with the men. Does everything have to be shared? Give me a break. Before someone flames me, I am a woman.

[Thebaddog]

LPGA has a rule that only women can be part of the association.

[TheCrusader]

"I'm convinced she would improve if she played that level consistently..."

I'm wondering what makes you feel she'd improve? Was it her finising # 96 out of 110 players? Was it her teary eyed admission that "I got in way over my head"? Or was it the fact that on her second day, after gaining some experience with the course and the media hype, she got even worse? Help me out.

[stop_fascism]

I agree. It shows that the men's and women's tours are a lot closer than I had thought. It would be interesting to see how shw would do if she played the men's tour more often. Obviously, that's not going to happen, because of the money she can make on the LPGA.

[TheCrusader]

"I agree. Even Sergio Garcia missed the cut".

Sergio is a 23 year old kid still learning his trade and growing; he's nowhere near his golf prime yet. Inspite of this, the kid won the Colonial in 2001 by shooting a 63. Annika, at the peak of her career, could not even dream of doing that.

[Cedric]

Had the sponsor been coerced into allowing Annika to play the last two rounds {why not, she didn't deserve to play the first two} she would have ended-up 30-35 strokes behind the leader! Only in Bizarro World is that showing "the men's and women's tours are alot closer together....".

[Ready4Freddy]

"I'm wondering what makes you feel she'd improve?"

Do you not think she's capable of improving her short game, were she to play consistently on courses w/ 6-8" rough (instead of 3"), or putt on greens that are regularly 10-12 on the stimp (instead of max 9)?

[GSWarrior]

You are not the only one. I don't know what her appearance in the Colonial was supposed to prove. It was a publicity stunt--designed to spur interest in both women's and men's golf. At that level it was a success.

It also showed that women golfers can't compete on the same level as men. She could play in every event on the tour and I doubt she would make a single cut.

Let the feminists and others crow about what a historic day it was.

[TheCrusader]

"It shows that the men's and women's tours are a lot closer than I had thought. It would be interesting to see how shw would do if she played the men's tour more often. Obviously, that's not going to happen, because of the money she can make on the LPGA".

Is there any reason to believe she would do better on the more difficult men's tours than she did on this relatively easy one? All the evidence is to the opposite. Annika physically prepared herself for this event for four months. She bulked up, practiced, worked out with trainers, and has faced every media pressure imaginable as the best woman golfer in the world. Her second day was even worse than her first. My logic tells me that a third day would have put her into a cracker factory.

[wardaddy]

And G-d bless women like you and my wife who chastised me when I had the temerity to blurt that maybe she "just wanted to see how she could do".

My wife then pointed out to me that there are no examples of social engineering where one stops as simply "being given the opportunity".

[LittleRedRooster]

Sergio is a 23 year old kid still learning his trade and growing; he's nowhere near his golf prime yet. Inspite of this, the kid won the Colonial in 2001 by shooting a 63. Annika, at the peak of her career, could not even dream of doing that.

Sergio was a fine 'feel' player but with just 5 cuts made in 10 tries and a best finish of 25th, he really needs to find a golf swing if his career is going to flourish. There are a bunch of young guys with much better swings who putt just as well as Sergio coming up everyday it seems. Sergio is a good guy and good for golf so I hope he didn't get to fat to quick and will continue to practice.