Annika - It has started.

[Ming]

Ran another long put past the hole... made the long comeback putt. Still even and 5 down.

Yeah... I've said her putting was not the best, and she is proving it. But man, she's throwing them up to the green with the best of them. Off the fairway once, no bunkers... a solid round.

[Ming]

She is more interested in the "Challange"... she has an incredibable winning percentage on the LPGA... She thinks she is one of the best, and she wants to prove it.

So far, I'm impresssed.

[Agathon]

Playing well, isn't she?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Flubber
So far, it does seem like she is handling the distances. In fairness to the critics, however, it was pretty logical to assume that a woman would likely have difficulty hitting as far as the men.

Not really, since she was an established LPGA touring pro. Her various play stats are documented as well as the PGA tour players are. Some stats speak for themselves - distance off tee, etc., the rest can be modified based on comparative course and slope ratings to get a fair idea of how competitive she'd be on the PGA tour.

Question here-- Lets assume she does well enough to be around the cut--- Lets assume she choses to play regularly on the men's tour. Then assume that she makes the tour and can regularly finish in the middle of the pack, making some cuts and missing others but never cracking the top 20 in any event. What kind of income would those types of results garner? She might not care if her endorsement income skyrockets but I'm assuming that it would be quite a drop from her current LPGA winnings.

Strictly on tour winnings, her income would barely be enough to make tour expenses. On the PGA tour, if you don't get some top ten finishes, you go back to being a club pro or doing something else for a living. Qualifying rules and the facts of income and expense without being good enough to either get sponsorship or endorsement deals both combine to weed out mediocre players over time.

Also, this stunt has garnered a lot of attentionbut do you think the attention would continue if she played more regularly on the tour with middling results?

For a while, at least - unless it became clear that she was little more than a hanger on. If she ends up in contention on the occasional Sunday afternoon, then the media attention would last a lot longer.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Ming
She is more interested in the "Challange"... she has an incredibable winning percentage on the LPGA... She thinks she is one of the best, and she wants to prove it.

So far, I'm impresssed.

and she does seem impressive-- but lets say she makes the cut here and gets in another event or two and again is smack in the middle of the pack-- She will have proven that she is a middle of the pack calibre golfer and if she achieves no more than this when playing her best , she may come to the conclusion that it is impossible for her to contend at the PGA level .


While she may continue to enjoy the challenge, wouldn't this pale IF she finds she simply is outclassed when it comes to having any real chance of winning? ( Note that all this speculation goes out the window if she actually is good enough to be a contender, a possibility I find unlikely but cannot completely discount.

[Ming]

If she could have putted today... she whould have been in first place But then again, many pros can say that...

I don't think she like's it when it's easy. This will be a good a learning experience for her. I think she will be spending more time on the practice green than the range if she tries this again.

[Ming]

On the 8th hole (her 17th) she "missed" the green but only by a few inches... But again, she left her long birdie putt short... she made the comeback putt and is still even with one to play. 5 back, and currently in 37th place.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Ming
On the 8th hole (her 17th) she "missed" the green but only by a few inches... But again, she left her long birdie putt short... she made the comeback putt and is still even with one to play. 5 back, and currently in 37th place.

Ming-- just curious but how many players are in the field? And have many of the top ranked folks played yet--
Better yet, where are you following all this? Is it on the net?( I can't watch TV at work . .

[Ming]

I'm at home today... wanted to catch this. Again... THANK YOU USA NETWORK for expanding your coverage.

She just ran one through the 9th green, off by just a foot.

Not sure of the size of the field... and many of the better players are going off this afternoon. But it will include many of the heavy hitters, but no Tiger, and no VJ (the wimp)

[Flubber]

Edit-updated the story when the round was over

Updated - 2:25 pm) Annika Sorenstam sits at 1-over 71 after the first round of the Bank of America Colonial.


Her opening tee shot on the 10th hole, the first by a woman in 58 years on the PGA tour, was straight down the middle of the fairway, 261 yards. She hit the middle of the green on her second shot, 10 feet from the hole. While she looked tentative on her birdie putt, she managed to score a par.

On the par 5, 11th hole, she managed another straight tee shot down the middle of the fairway, 258 yards. Her second shot, a fairway wood, came up 130 yards short of the green. A short iron shot left her 15 feed from the hole and she settled for another par after her birdie putt came up short again.


On the par 4, 12th hole, Sorenstam drove her ball 260 yards down the fairway. Her second shot came up short of the green. For the third consecutive hole, her birdie putt came up short and she settled for par.

On the par 3, 13th hole - her first par 3 of the day - Sorenstam landed her six iron shot just off the back of the green about 20 feet from the hole. Putting from the fringe, she holed her shot to pick up her first birdie of the day and move to within two strokes of the lead.


On the par 4, 14th hole, Sorenstam drove her tee shot 280 yards into the fairway. Her second shot landed just a few feet from the cup but rolled about 20 feet to set up a long birdie attempt. She settled for her fourth par of the day.

On the par 4, 15th hole, Sorenstam found the right side of the fairway 250 yards - the first fairway of the day that she failed to hit down the middle. Her second shot came up about 20 feet short of the hole. Her birdie attempt slipped just past the hole, leaving her with a par.

On the par 3, 16th hole, her tee shot hit the rough just beyond the bunker and rolled to within six feet of the hole. Sorenstam missed the short birdie putt and settled for par.

On the par 4, 17th hole, Sorenstam found the fairway and her approach shot from 160 yards away hit the green, but left her far from the hole. She made a strong putt for birdie but came up inches short, settling for par.

On the par 4, 18th hole, Sorenstam found the fairway for the seventh time today. Her approach shot to the green bounced out of the right rough, leaving her with a very long putt for birdie. She settled for a three foot putt for par to finish her opening nine one under par.

On the par 5, 1st hole Sorenstam found the middle of the fairway on the very long first hole. She layed up with her second shot before finding the middle of the green on her third attempt, 15 feet from the hole. Once again, she slid her birdie putt just past the hole and settled for par.

On the par 4, 2nd hole, Sorenstam once again hit the fairway on this 400 yard dogleg. Her second shot found the green, but left her with a very lengthy put for birdie, about 40 feet. After sliding the ball just past the hole, she collected her 10th par of the round from six feet out.

On the par 4, 3rd hole - the start of what is known as the "Horrible Horseshoe" - Sorenstam put her shot right in the middle of the fairway, 257 yards, setting up a straight forward approach to the pin. Her second shot easily found the green, about 15 feet from the hole. However, she came up short on her birdie attempt and carded another par.

On the par 3, 4th hole, Sorenstam reached the front of the green using a fairway wood off the tee on the longest par three at Colonial. Her birdie putt appeared to be right on line but came up just short again. She tapped in for par.

On the par 4, 5th hole, Sorenstam's tee shot found the left rough as she missed the fairway for the first time today. Using a four iron, she ran her second shot up onto the green, leaving her with a tricky and long birdie putt. After leaving her birdie putt short, she slid her par putt just by the hole to record her first bogey of the round to fall back to even par.

On the par 4, 6th hole, Sorenstam shook off her bogey by hitting a solid tee shot. Her approach to the green was pin high and settled 25 feet from the cup. Her birdie attempt slipped past the hole about five feet, ensuring that her par putt would not be easy. She managed to sink the par but not before catching the left edge and rolling it around and in.

On the par 4, 7th hole, using the driver off the tee, Sorenstam cranked her shot 255 yards down the fairway. She managed to find the front of the green on her approach shot, but once again, she came up short in her 25 foot birdie attempt. She managed to tap in for par.

On the par 3, 8th hole, Sorenstam found the fringe at the front of the green using a six iron. Her birdie putt was once again tentative and came up well short of the hole. However, with a solid stroke to the middle of the cup she carded a par.

On the par 4, 9th hole, Sorenstam drove it down the middle of the fairway once again, giving her 13 of 14 fairways in her opening round. Her approach shot from 167 yards out settled at the back of the green. She struck her birdie putt solidly from off the green and it settled seven feet past the hole, leaving her with a tricky comeback. Sorenstam missed the par putt and settled for bogey to end her round.

[Ming]

Good prediction rah... a 71 for one over par.

She bogied the last hole by again missing a comeback putt.

If she could have only putted better today.

But congrats Annika... so much for the 80 or worse that some of her detractors were suggesting

[Flubber]

The leaderboard at tsn http://www.tsn.ca/golf/pga/leaderboard.asp shows her at 28th place of 40 golfers so far. The leader is at -5 and the last place player at this time is at +5.


Edit:a bogey on the final hole would put her at 33rd place of 40 so far.

[Kaak]

is she teeing off from the mens tee boxes?

[rah]

Originally posted by Ming
Good prediction rah... a 71 for one over par.

RAH takes a bow.

I'll go ahead and predict a 68 for tomorrow.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Kaak
is she teeing off from the mens tee boxes?

Where else would she tee off from??


Leaderboard update

She is now shown as being tied for 37th-46th place of 56 golfers

So it went as I thought it would . She is firmly in the middle to the bottom half of the field and will have to perform even better if she hopes to make the cut. Perhaps tomorrow she will convert a few more of those birdie chances.