Forget, if you can, the sociological implications. Dispense with the hand-wringing over why she’s doing it, or whether she should be doing it. As of 8:58 a.m. Thursday, what will matter is whether Annika Sorenstam can do it-can compete with PGA Tour golfers on a PGA Tour course. She insists she’s no Billie Jean King standard-bearer; hers is a personal quest to see how she measures up against the best in the world. Having won 20 times since 2001 on the LPGA Tour, she has pretty much run out of things to prove on her own turf. The course will be longer and tougher and the eld far stronger than what she’s used to. Only one thing is certain: The world will be watching.
ON TV: USA Network will televise Sorenstam’s round beginning at 8:58 a.m. Thursday.
Annika Sorenstam’s stats
Age: 32 (Born Oct. 9, 1970, in Stockholm)
Height: 5 feet 6 inches
College: Arizona
Joined LPGA: 1994
Major titles: 4 (1995-96 Women’s U.S. Open; 2001-02 Nabisco Championship).
Career-low round: 59 (13-under, 2nd round of 2001 Standard Register Ping).
LPGA holes-in-one: 3
Personal: Married (David); enjoys music and cooking; started playing at 12; sister Charlotta also plays on LPGA.
CAREER NUMBERS
YEAR EVENTS CUTS WINS TOP 10 SCORING EARNINGS
1992 1 1 0 0 77.00 –
1993 3 3 0 2 71.09 $47,319
1994 18 14 0 3 71.9 127,451
1995 19 19 3 12 71.00 666,533
1996 20 20 3 14 70.47 808,311
1997 20 20 6 16 70.04 1,236,789
1998 21 21 4 17 69.99 1,092,748
1999 22 22 2 12 70.48 63,816
2000 22 22 5 15 70.47 1,404,948
2001 26 26 8 20 69.42 2,105,868
2002 23 22 11 20 68.70 2,863,904
2003 5 5 1 5 69.22 554,306
200 200 43 136 11,771,993
2003 RECORD
DATE EVENT FINISH SCORE EARNINGS
March 23 Safeway Ping 3rd 269 $52,432
March 30 Nabisco 2nd 282 146,120
April 6 Office Depot 1st 211 225,000
April 19 Takefuji Classic 2nd 206 77,129
May 4 Michelob Light Open 6th 278 53,625
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COLONIAL COUNTRY CLUB
Ft. Worth
The course has been part of the PGA Tour since 1946. With its narrow doglegs and small greens, it requires creative shotmaking rather than brute strength.
Sorenstam’s strategy on the course
By Ed Sherman
Illustrations of No. 5 and No. 11 courtesy of Colonial Country Club
NO. 5
Par 4
476 yards
The long par 4s obviously will be difcult for Sorenstam.
SORENSTAM
– Assuming an average drive of 275 yards, she will have in the vicinity of 200 yards to the green.
– From there, she will use her 7-wood, which she estimates carries 195 yards. It’s not an easy shot, but one she denitely has in her bag.
PGA PRO
By contrast, a mid-to long-hitting pro will hit his drive 300-310 yards. Then from 160-170 yards, the pro will have a 6- or 7-iron into the green. Obviously, it is a much different play than what Sorenstam will encounter.
NO. 11
Par 5
609 yards
This hole plays downwind, so the long hitters can reach the green in two with a driver and 3-wood or even a 3-iron.
PGA PRO
The shorter hitters, though, will play it as a three-shot hole, much like Sorenstam will. They will look to leave themselves about 100 yards into the green for their third shots. From there, they can spin a wedge to get it close to the hole.
SORENSTAM Sorenstam will use the same strategy.
– She will hit driver (1st), 3-wood (2nd).
– From there, a 100-110-yard wedge into the green (3rd).
Sorenstam vs. the PGA
Sorenstam’s statistics suggest that her main challenges at the Colonial will be driving long enough and keeping her putts to a minimum.
KEY:
00=Sorenstam’s rank in the LPGA
000=How her total would rank in the PGA
SCORING
Sorenstam: 69.22
PGA leader: Tiger Woods (68.47)
PGA 5th: Jim Furyk (69.30)
00 1ST
000 4TH
GREENS IN REGULATION
Sorenstam: 76.5%
PGA leader: Furyk (74.1%)
00 1ST
000 1ST
DRIVING ACCURACY
Sorenstam: 73.8%
PGA leader: Fred Funk (79.1%)
PGA 8th: Kenny Perry (73.8%)
00 39TH
000 8TH
DRIVING DISTANCE
Sorenstam: 275.4 yards
PGA leader: Hank Kuehne (315.3 yards)
PGA 163rd: Esteban Toledo (275.3 yards)
00 1st
000 162
SAND SAVES
Sorenstam: 38.9
PGA leader: Jay Haas (71.2)
PGA 177th: Notah Begay Jr. (37.7)
00 48th
000 176th
PUTTING AVERAGE
Sorenstam: 1.74
PGA leader: Ernie Els (1.68)
PGA 44th: Haas (1.741)
00 2nd
000 43rd
PUTTS PER ROUND
Sorenstam: 29.89
PGA leader: Chris Riley (27.49)
PGA 179th: Jay Don Blake (29.90)
00 64th
000 178th
