Sorenstam, 1-over, "happy" with first PGA round
By Stephen Hawkins
Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas — Annika Sorenstam hit her opening drive, then slumped in mock relief and laughed. She was happy just to be playing golf.
The world's top female player may have been nervous in her historic debut on the PGA Tour, but she didn't play like it. Sorenstam shot a first-round 71 at the Colonial, finishing 1 over par after a bogey on her last hole today.
"I've been nervous all day. Obviously, I'm very happy with the way I played," Sorenstam said. "I'm just glad the day is over. It's a relief now."
Sorenstam never showed that nervousness, hitting her opening drive 243 yards down the No. 10 fairway, past the balls of playing partners Dean Wilson and Aaron Barber — granted they used irons on their opening shots.
Wilson, a Castle High graduate from Kane'ohe, also shot a 1-over 71. Barber shot a 72.
Sorenstam, the first woman to play on the PGA Tour in 58 years, played 13 holes before getting a bogey. And she never hid her emotions, smiling throughout the round, pumping her fist when things went well and gesturing at balls not headed in the right direction.
After years of dreaming and three months of hype, Sorenstam finally got to see how her game holds up against the best in the world. She has likened her task to climbing Mount Everest.
"I haven't reached the top yet, but I feel like I'm on the way," she said.
At the 402-yard 9th hole, her last, Sorenstam hit her approach through the green. The ball was resting on the fringe 27 feet from the pin, and she couldn't clean mud off the ball. She then left herself an 8-foot par putt, which slipped past the cup.
Of the 55 others who played morning rounds, 35 shot par or better, ahead of Sorenstam. There were 57 more players on the course in the afternoon.
"I'd love to make the cut, but if I play like I did today, it hardly matters," Sorenstam said.
Sorenstam was bogey-free until three-putting from more than 60 feet at her 14th hole, the 470-yard No. 5. After her drive hit the right rough and rolled down a hill, she managed to get to the green, but on the opposite side from the cup.
That was the only of 14 fairways she missed while averaging 248 yards on her drives. She hit 14 of 18 greens and needed 33 putts.
"She's a machine. She's awesome," said Barber, one of her playing partners. "I've never played with someone over 18 holes who didn't miss a shot."
Sorenstam's lone birdie came on a 15-foot putt off the back fringe at the 178-yard 13th, her fourth hole.
She played 10 more holes after the birdie before giving up that stroke with her bogey at No. 5, the end of a trio of holes known as the "Horrible Horseshoe" because of its length and shape. The two longest par 4s on the course sandwich a par 3 that plays as long as 246 yards.
"She's a heck of a player. Let's face it," said Dan Forsman, whose 4-under 66 was one stroke off the early lead. "With all the media that she's standing up to, that's tremendous. You tip your cap to her and hope she continues it."
When her round started, a crowd of media and fans was stacked 10-12 deep around the No. 10 tee, and the fairway on the 404-yard hole was lined with spectators — many of them women wearing "Go Annika" buttons. Large crowds awaited her at every hole.
"Every hole was like the U.S. Open on Sunday," she said. "I was hoping I would relax and calm down a bit."
The crowd applauded when Sorenstam started the short walk from the clubhouse to the No. 10 tee. After being introduced, she acknowledged the cheering crowd with waves to both sides of the tee before hitting a 3-wood for her drive.
After her birdie at No. 13, Sorenstam again hit 6-iron at the other backside par 3, the 188-yard 16th. She hit to five feet, but her birdie chance slid just right of the hole.
When Sorenstam walked up the 18th fairway after her approach shot bounced off a hump by a bunker onto the green, she got the kind of cheering reception usually reserved for players about to win a tournament. But she wasn't even halfway done with her first round.
Rain the previous two days made the course play its full 7,080-yard length, but also made the normally crusty and firm greens more forgiving. There was almost no wind at the course known for breezy conditions.
Las Vegas oddsmakers gave Sorenstam a 500-1 chance of winning, and they were being generous.
The Colonial layout is a longer, tougher course than any she has played in competition. The LPGA's Corning Classic in New York this week is at 6,062-yard course being played as a par 72.
Sorenstam is under more scrutiny than any player since Tiger Woods made his pro debut in the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open.
And for the first time in years, Sorenstam started a tournament she is not expecting to win. The 32-year-old Swede said she would be "so pleased" to shoot par.
She came close.
