Should Sorenstam play?

[blingbling]

What do you think about Annika Sorenstam playing with the men in next week's Colonial golf tournament? Is it a cheap publicity stunt or a long-overdue opportunity? How will she do?


Annika Sorenstam factfile

Annika Sorenstam lines-up in the Bank of America Colonial US PGA event on Thursday, hoping to add the title to her long list of tournaments victories

1970: Born October 9 in Stockholm.

1987: First foray on to the international scene as part of Sweden's national team.

1991: Named National Collegiate Athletic Association's Co-College Player of the Year with Kelly Robbins after winning NCAA Championship.

1992: Crowned world amateur champion and finished runner-up in the United States Amateur Championship. Second in NCAA Championship.

1993: Turns professional.

1994: Named LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Tied for second at Weetabix British Open. On losing European side in Solheim Cup.

1995: Won first LPGA Tour event, the US Women's Open. Also claimed Samsung World Championship and Tour Player of the Year award. Ended year top of Women Professional Golfers' European Tour Order of Merit. Named Sweden's Athlete of the Year.

1996: Won three tournaments on the trot, US Women's Open, Samsung World Championship and CoreStates Betsy King Classic. Suffered another Solheim Cup defeat.

1997: Named LPGA Player of the Year after seven wins. Broke through US dollars 2million barrier for career earnings. Married fiance David Esch.

1998: Became first player in LPGA history to finish a season with a sub-70 scoring average (69.99) on her way to a third Player of the Year award. Again lost in the Solheim Cup.

1999: Fired the lowest first round in LPGA history, an 11-under-par 61 in the Sara Lee Classic. Wins Michelob Light Classic for third straight year.

2000: Qualified for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, providing she stays on Tour until end of 2003. Helped Europe to Solheim Cup win.

2001: Eight wins earn a fourth Player of the Year award. Partnered Tiger Woods to beat Karrie Webb and David Duval in the Lincoln Financial Group Battle at Bighorn.

2002: Claimed 11 titles on her way to another Player of the Year trophy. Broke annual scoring average record (68.70). Part of European side to relinquish Solheim Cup.

http://www.ananova.com/sport/story/sm_782971.html

[Timco]

Let her play. I don't know what the fuss is all about....

[James_F]

I agree... I hope she beats all those men who think she doesn't belong. That and she is a babe...

http://ca.yimg.com/i/ca/reuters/20021111/i/1946861575.jpg

[clapple]

>> Is it a cheap publicity stunt <<

Yes.

[James_F]

Originally posted by clapple
>> Is it a cheap publicity stunt <<

Yes.

If you think that, then you know nothing about Annika. :rolleyes:

[SamC]

On a week when the sports world would naturally be looking to Indy, and Charlotte; and then to the NBA and NHL, they took a Tiger-less golf tournament, destined for a 1.0 rating and made it into an event.

Its a publicity stunt. And the 10000th rated man in ANY individual sport would beat the best woman, just as any mediocre small college men's team in any team sport would destroy a world all-star team in any team sport.

Hopefully, she won't make the cut and this silliness will be put aside for another generation.

[James_F]

Originally posted by SamC
Its a publicity stunt.
The "Battle of Bighorn" where Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam beat David Duval and Karrie Webb was about publicity. This is about the best female player in the world seeking better competition.
And the 10000th rated man in ANY individual sport would beat the best woman, just as any mediocre small college men's team in any team sport would destroy a world all-star team in any team sport.p
LOL... You have no clue about anything then... :rolleyes:

Hopefully, she won't make the cut and this silliness will be put aside for another generation.
She WILL make the cut because she is that good. Even with all the pressure on her, she still will beat the socks off men who don't even belong holding her bag.

[marko]

I hope she makes the cut. I think she will too. I'm sure she picked a "short" course so she is not at a huge disadvantage.

[Ryan]

It's a little bit of both. She's playing this particular event because it suits her abilities well. There are other courses where she would be much more of a long shot to make the cut. But she has earned her way into a PGA event. Remember it's not the MPGA. Being male is not a requirement. Just professional caliber. Which she is.

Plus she's playing on an exemption, which cuts both ways. Some will say she should have qualified. Someday (probably sooner rather than later) a woman will qualify for a PGA event and play from the tips just like the big boys. Then there will be little room for arguement. But with an exemption, she's not really taking a spot away from some guy a ways down on the qualifying list. They could have used that exemption on anybody.

They choose to use it on a highly qualified woman when they knew Tiger wouldn't be playing. They knew they would be attracting a lot of attention, some for the right reasons, and some for the wrong.

I say good luck to her, and I hope the guys remember what it means to be a gentleman.

[djlong]

SamC,

Then please explain why college baseball teams would lose, from time to time, to the Colorado Silver Bullets - the women's professional baseball team that barnstormed the country back in the '90s.

You ignorant claim about the 10,000th-ranked-man doesn't even pass muster with simple fact checking.

Boston Marathon - 2003 official results:

Men's winning time: 2h 10m 11s
15th place, 2:23:59 - Diego Colorado
16th place, 2:25:20 - Svetlana Zhakarova

So the top 15 men beat the top woman. And that top woman beat over 17,000 men who entered.

And if Annika makes the cut, will it still be silliness? Or will you reconsider your opinion of women in sports?

[Ronmort]

She should play if she wants to play. Amen! What's the big deal? I hope she makes the cut.

[Tomsoundman]

If you don't think its publicity/marketing then let me remind you that there are FOUR press members to every ONE golfer.

[Frapp]

Well, Vegas does not think she has a chance to win:

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GLF_BETTING_ANNIKA?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

IMHO,

I think she has a huge chance of her game collapsing under all the pressure and becoming a spectacle.

I`ll split hairs on this topic and say: I don`t think she should play in a mens tournament at this time.

The women protesting at the masters in Augusta, Ga last month were heavily laughed at. The local sheriff even sent them down the road to do their protesting where they would not bother anyone.

If Annika does blow this one, with the Augusta protests being fresh in everyone's mind, womens golf could loose a great deal of respectable ground :shrug:

[SamC]

Simple economics proves my point. If there was a woman good enough to play with men in any sport, she would. You can get very rich at any number of sports. Yet no woman plays in a men's sports league. Because none are good enough.

If you are in the minority that likes to watch women athletes play (just pan the sea of empties at any WNBA game, where, BTW the average player makes 1/1000th of what an NBA player does) fine. I like women's sports to. But understand that watching women's anything is like watching college or minor league sports. Fine, valid, and interesting. But not the best in the world.

Thank you for your submission on the Boston Marathon. When running becomes a sport, it might be relevant.

[durl]

I don't think she should play. A lot of people want her to play just because a woman shouldn't be refused the right to play because it's discriminatory. If you completely adhere to that principle, men should be allowed to play in the LPGA and the WNBA. There should be no mens/women's gymnastics or track and field. I don't believe there are many people that would enjoy watching that.

I have no problem with female drivers in Indy or Nascar so it's not that I'm against women playing in all traditional "mens" sports.

[marko]

+1 for the day, not a bad outing at all. If I was a betting person, I would of took the under (think it was 77 maybe?)

[I\'m not Vijay Sing...]

Originally posted by SamC
If you are in the minority that likes to watch women athletes play (just pan the sea of empties at any WNBA game, where, BTW the average player makes 1/1000th of what an NBA player does) fine. I like women's sports to. But understand that watching women's anything is like watching college or minor league sports. Fine, valid, and interesting. But not the best in the world.
What does this have anything to do with WNBA? And why does it matter how much a person gets paid to how good they are? :rolleyes: I think she proved that while she isn't as good as the top of the men, she can at least play with them.

Thank you for your submission on the Boston Marathon. When running becomes a sport, it might be relevant.
If its covered in SI its a sport to me (including the swimsuit stuff) :D

[Ryan]

>>If there was a woman good enough to play with men in any sport, she would. You can get very rich at any number of sports. Yet no woman plays in a men's sports league. Because none are good enough.


Um, horse racing, auto racing.

[ibglowin]

After watching her play the first round, she's definitely good enough to play with the boys. Can she actually win.......probably not.

[djlong]

Was Jackie Robinson a publicity stunt?

The 'publicity' is the effect, not the cause.

[clapple]

This is in no way intended to be critical of Annika. But this whole thing was a publicity stunt, by the tournament sponsers, to generate some interest in a second tier tournament, that most people don't care about.

[Tomsoundman]

The sponsor is getting a HUGE return on their advertising dollar from this publicity stunt. Much more exposure than usual.

[Mike123abc]

Well if she can qualify and do well I do not think there is a problem. If she cannot qualify or qualifies and comes in near last place, the problem is that she makes the rest of the women golfers look really bad. She could end up setting back women's golf by giving people the impression that women are second class golfers and not worth watching.

[John Corn]

Five over par, and misses the cut by 4, just about exactly what would be predicted from her performance on the easier courses played by the LPGA. You have to give her credit for playing her game under all the pressure.

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/ap/ap_story.html/Golf/AP.V4560.AP-GLF-Colonial.html

[SamC]

Beat 11 players out of 140. On a handpicked course with a thin field.

In other words, if she were forced to make a living at this, she would not.

And a totally different situation from Jackie Robinson, who was held out by a racist system, although he was good enough to play. This person, like me and millions of others, isn't good enough to play on the PGA tour. Totally different.

A publicity stunt that has now failed, as the Memorial Day weekend will be filled by Indy, Charlotte, the NBA and Baseball.

See I told you so.