Annika Sorens-tam is a helluva golfer. I’m a big fan of hers.
She could probably whip every single women’s player on tour ten-fold because she just simply hits the ball farther and straighter than any other woman on tour.
She has a great swing, no doubt about it. I think she looks the part of what every single golfer in the land, amateur or otherwise, would like to emulate when she swings.
To be honest, I think she’s one of the best in the world.
So this weekend, Annika Sorenstam will be playing on the men’s tour. She will be teeing it up at the Colonial Golf Tournament ending a 58-year period of women not playing in a PGA Tour event.
I’ve sat back and taken every single point of view in. I feel I’m fairly knowledgeable about this sport, seeing as though I play it all the time (And it IS a sport, but that’s a column for another day).
Before I get into this more, I’m all for women’s rights. I believe they should be working the same positions as men, earning the same as men and living the same life as men. This idea that no woman would make a good president is obscene. In fact, I firmly believe Hillary Clinton ran the whole show in the first place. But golf tournaments? That’s a different story.
So here it is, the skinny on C-Note$’ idea of Annika playing in the PGA tour.
It stinks.
It’s awful. It’s a publicity stunt with no bearing whatsoever. Annika hits the ball well, putts much better than most and has one of the best short games this side of the women’s tour. The WOMEN’S tour. Comparing the two sides is like apples and oranges. It’s a completely different game.
The men hit the ball longer and the tees are back further. On par 5’s, the men can get home in two. Annika will hope to get to the green in three.
To me, two things are apparent here. One, she’s setting the standard for women golfers everywhere and it isn’t the right tone. If I’m a female pro golfer, I would be distraught. I would be angry. What Sorenstam is doing is ruining the image of the LPGA. The women’s professional tour is not the same as the men’s. It’s full of solid golfers no doubt, but the two are not in the same area code. With Annika playing with men, that shows how far the women’s tour is behind the men’s.
The second is the idea that she feels she’s better than every women’s golfer both on the course and in the market. She feels she’s going to be able to draw more than the other women which is ridiculous. Nancy Lopez is the greatest women’s golfer at least in the last three decades. It’s amazing to think that Annika could draw more than Lopez
It’s like all the basketball teams that play the Harlem Globetrotters. None of those teams have a chance but they’re still good teams. Sure there could be the occasional close game, but no one has beaten them.
I would suggest, if I’m the president of the PGA, is to either combine the two associations or play several tournaments for fun with both fields in it. The Tiger and Annika versus David Duval and Karrie Webb tournament I found to be very entertaining. I have always liked the idea of playing games like that. (Incidentally, the only sport I don’t think should do that is the WNBA but again, another column, another day.)
This could work though. If the LPGA and PGA decided to cross hairs and join forces, I could see a very plausible marketing gimmick in the future. Two things would have to happen. The first being the obvious discrepancy of the tee boxes. Let’s let the women hit from theirs and the men from theirs. Then there’s the evident gap in golf courses. The men tend to play longer courses, the women, tighter ones. So both parties would have to agree on a neutral site. Which narrows the field down to about 15 courses, give or take.
The Masters, PGA Championship and the British Open, three of my personal favorite tournaments, would have to be abolished simply because Augusta doesn’t allow women on the course, nor does British Open courses. The men would obviously win most if not all the tournaments and those who are in favor of the merger would then complain about the lack of respect for the women players.
To me, I hate segregation, but I do love it in golf. I enjoy watching both the men and women play golf. Call me a classic guy, but I prefer to keep Annika beating the women, as opposed to exposing the vast gap this weekend.
In the locker room:
Detroit Tiger Carlos Pena went silly on Cleveland Indians pitching Monday night. The former Northeastern Husky ripped three home runs including a third inning grand slam at Jacobs Field in Cleveland in a 10-9 loss to the Tribe. Pena came up in the ninth inning and just missed hitting his fourth as a fastball down and in (his best location to hit the fastball) just missed the barrel and he flied to center … One last week to send your opinions to my e-mail address. Let me know which is the best sports event in the last five years! E-mail me at [email protected]. Your opinions count!
