Annika Sorenstam--You Go Girl! (1 Viewer)

[Peter Kline]

A woman playing in a minor PGA tournament happens every 58 years or so. Those complaining know nothing about the rules of the game and how invitational tournaments are arranged. PGA rules do not ban women from playing, never have. That's why Babe Zaharias played those many years ago. Annika will not be joining the mens tour anytime soon and as stated above would not be able to maintain a consistency as she does on the LPGA. She has shown more class then many of the men golfers and detractors have. Hope she makes the cut today. There's some "vagina envy" going on I suspect.

 

[Patrick Sun]

FYI: Tiger Woods didn't have to qualify for the PGA, he got American Express to pony up for a sponsor's exemption.

 

[RobertR]

If she's good enough to compete in the PGA, it will show and she will belong there.

If she's not good enough (it's still not known if she will make the cut today), it will show, and the publicity (and therefore the incentive to invite her to play) will start to fade away.

So what's the big deal?

 

[Patrick Sun]

Basically pre-conceived notions.

 

[Denward]

Here's the rule for sponsor's exemptions:

12. Sponsor exemptions (a maximum of eight, which may include amateurs with handicaps of 2 or less), on the following basis:
A. Not less than two sponsor invitees shall be PGA TOUR members not otherwise exempt.
B. Not less than two of the top 35 finishers and ties from the last Qualifying Tournament, as well as 2-15 from the 2002 Nationwide Tour money list, if not all of them can otherwise be accommodated. (Note: PGA TOUR members may receive an unlimited number of sponsor invitations. Non-TOUR members may receive a maximum of seven per year).

I'm cheering for Annika to make the cut and finish around par. Remember that Nick Price, a short hitter, won this tournament last year. According to latest stats, Nick drives it 280, while Annika drives it 275.

I think it's great that Annika has this opportunity, and so far, has competed with the men. I don't think she should make it a regular thing to play with the men unless she starts qualifying. I think Zaharias actually qualified when she played.

 

[Brian Perry]

I think it's great that Annika has this opportunity, and so far, has competed with the men.

I think the word "compete" is not completely accurate. She has absolutely zero chance of winning this, or any PGA tournament (assuming a normal field). Can she hang around and shoot par on a non-major course? Maybe. The way I look at it, she is comparable to the best female marathon runner. She can run the marathon in 2:15, which would absolutely blow away 99.999% of all runners, men and women alike. However, the best male runners are running 2:06. One couldn't honestly say that the female runner was competing with the male.

I don't think Annika should be criticized for participating (my earlier comments about the sponsors exemption notwithstanding), but I don't think she should be praised for being "courageous" or performing "spectacularly" as some news outlets gushed.

 

[Denward]

I think the word "compete" is not completely accurate. She has absolutely zero chance of winning this

By your standards, does Joe Blow PGA Tour player have a chance of winning this? Is the answer yes just because he hits the ball farther than Annika? Annika excels at other aspects of the game which make her competitive. A marathon is not a good analogy. Perhaps something like the Winter Olympics Biathlon (skiing and shooting) with maybe 5 other finesse skills thrown in would be a better comparison. Strenghth is important, but so are a lot of other things.

 

[Tommy Ceez]

If she can swing it, she can bring it! (I heared someone else say that)

Anika might not be able to win on the mens tour but theres talk about the 13 year old asian girl skipping the LPGA and trying for the mens tour when she's good/old enough. (BTW. At 13 she's 6'0", hits the ball 300yds, and cute as a button).

The major problem with keeping competative women out is this. Anika as the #2 money winner on the LPGA has made $554,501. Brenden Pappas (who?!) at # 58 on the mens tour has made $556,832. Mike Weir the #2 mens money winner has made $3,365,025. Now granted Anika has played less events but why shouldnt a woman who can compte be given an opportunity to make more money?

As far as men on the LPGA. Lets make this fair. Every year the top 20 women money winners and the top 20 mens money winners are given the opportunity to switch tours. That would be equitable and almost gurantee that no man would ever switch. 95% of the women wouldnt either. And if the 13yr old can pass Q School, she can start with the men.

Fair enough?

I think the word "compete" is not completely accurate. She has absolutely zero chance of winning this

Does she have less of a chance then Brenden Pappas, her closest PGA money earner? Unless I'm reading the page wrong he has never won a tournement no less shot a 59.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/playe...e?playerId=705

 

[Brian Perry]

By your standards, does Joe Blow PGA Tour player have a chance of winning this?

I think my marathon analogy is a bit flawed in that golf's scoring nuances aren't as straightforward as running. Annika is hitting long irons into most greens, compared to men who are hitting 8 irons and under. While you can still make pars relatively easily with her game under those conditions, it is extremely hard to make birdies and eagles, which is really what separates the elite from the Joe Blows.

In other words, I would have a totally different opinion if her round of +1 was made up of seven birdies and eight bogies rather than all pars with one birdie (on a par three) and two bogies.

 

[Jeremiah]

She has played well considering the hype and circus that is going on, but +1 when the leader is at -7 is nothing to write home about. I don't think Annika can win any PGA tournament and neither can Joe Blow golfer, but remember, Joe Blow can't play in the LPGA, b/c, if he could, he would probably win quite a few Tourney's and make more money.

Annika is the best female golfer in the world and of course she can beat quite a few men, but those same guys aren't worried about getting beat by a women, they know they aren't the man guys. I know my skill level in basketball, and if a college female player beat me 1 on 1 I wouldn't be devastated if you know what I mean.

This course is also not very hard, and the winner of this tournament will be what -18 after 4 rounds and AS will be about E. I agree with the poster about her having to club up, so her getting birdies will not be often, and that will not lead to Tour wins. How would she fair in the US Open? Everyone saying this proves she can play with the men is just saying something everyone already knew; she will be better than a lot of men but also not as good as a lot of men.

Hey, she is around 75 ranked in this event and being the 75 best golfer in the world is pretty freaking good. Does she want to stay on the PGA and maybe miss a lot of cuts and finish around 50th(rough number) or play on the LPGA and dominate, win a lot of Tourney's, get the fame and money?

 

[Peter Kline]

Sorenstam was reportedly offered exemption to play in 7 PGA events. She chose the Colonial Invitational because the course suits her style of play. She hits her drives straight, and with the narrow fairways it gives her a good chance of playing well. The course is about 700 yards longer then anything she's played on before. It's a one time thing and she will continue to play the LPGA tour and break more records. This will, hopefully, bring more attention to women golfers. They are still considered second class athletes by a lot of people. (Hell, some still believe that golf isn't a sport!) Maybe one day women golfers will receive the kind of adulation that women tennis players have nowadays. All this hand-wringing is silly.

 

[Jeremiah]

The bottom line is, the LPGA is not enjoyable to watch so of course women golfers will not get that many accolades. Annika does b/c she can dominate and when a sport is not highly watched people only care about the person who can dominate b/c that person is up and beyond the regular talents of that sport. People want to see big drives or great long shots out of the rough, or PW that go for 170 yards. Same thing with the WNBA, sure they are better than me, but they are just not enjoyable to watch, they are not as athletic as men, they can't play above the rim, and their shooting stroke is not that pretty.

Womens Tennis on the other hand is more enjoyable to watch b/c the volleys are longer and the athletes are sexy. Mens tennis is good only when there are epic battles, the mens serves are so fast the volleys are much shorter.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I think the word "compete" is not completely accurate. She has absolutely zero chance of winning this, or any PGA tournament (assuming a normal field).

And Ty Tryon had absolutely zero chance of winning the tournament event he was given a sponsor's exemption to in Florida at 16 years old a couple of years ago. This is also the case with dozens of other men who are given sponsor's exemptions every year on the tour.

Sorenstam is not going to make this a regular occurance playing on the PGA Tour -- she can't compete consistently, and she knows it. However, there is nothing wrong with her giving it a try once or twice to see how she actually stacks up against the men. I do not understand why so many people feel threatened by this.

Anyway, both the PGA and LPGA should be loving all this. Without Annika's participation in the Colonial, no one would be talking about golf this week.

 

[Peter Kline]

Scott, Couldn't have said it better myself... oh, I did kinda!

 

[Denward]

I was just reviewing Annika's stats from yesterday. She hit 14 greens (tied for 13th best) and averaged 26 feet (10th best) from the hole on the GIRs. That awfully good ballstriking. There's only one reachable par 5 for the men. From this, you'd have to say her putting let her down. They say putting and short game are not her strengths. I think these results might motivate her to improve on her weaknesses and give the Colonial another shot down the road. Isn't it wonderful what stiffer competition does to your performance?

 

[Peter Kline]

Isn't it wonderful what stiffer competition does to your performance?

I really don't think that has anything to do with her first round. After all she beat one of her playing partners and, I believe, tied the other. It's more in the mental area and a longer course that she is up against.

 

[Jeremiah]

Actually, I don't think her first round is as great as some people are saying, 112 players are in this Tournament and she was only better than 27 of the players, and 72 others were better than her. I do think this has generated a lot of buzz witch is great for golf but after reading some articals about how she is 'playing with the big boys' and 'showing that she belongs with the men' are a little over the top.

 

[Paul_Fisher]

I have no problem with her playing on the men's tour as long as men are allowed to play on the women's tour. We don't want to be hypocritical do we???

 

[Brian Perry]

She hit 14 greens (tied for 13th best) and averaged 26 feet (10th best) from the hole on the GIRs

Interesting...she really must be kicking herself. The one area there should be no gender difference is putting. (Not to say there aren't individual differences among players.) If she were a better-than-average putter, she would likely have finished the first round in the top ten. I may have to change my opinion...

 

[Denward]

I really don't think that has anything to do with her first round. After all she beat one of her playing partners and, I believe, tied the other. It's more in the mental area and a longer course that she is up against.

Actually, what I meant was her performance yesterday may have put a spotlight on her weaknesses. Playing against the men may make her an even better player if she goes back and works on her short game. She may not be working as hard as she could, since she's already so successful on the LPGA. There were many PGA pros who said they had to get better when Tiger started kicking their butts.