Playing with Sorenstam a moment to remember

By Clay Fowler
Special to The Advertiser

FORT WORTH, Texas — Dean Wilson will never forget the week he spent on the golf course with Annika Sorenstam at the Bank of America Colonial.

Kane'ohe native Dean Wilson, center, joined the gallery in cheering for Annika Sorenstam after she completed her round Friday. "Playing with all that electricity in the air with Annika was fantastic," Wilson said. Associated Press

The Kane'ohe native was a part of history last week, something he called the greatest golfing experience of his life. Wilson, a 33-year-old PGA tour rookie, was paired with the first female to participate in a PGA tour event in 58 years.

Wilson couldn't help but be enveloped by the pandemonium surrounding Sorenstam, who played well but failed to make the cut. The atmosphere will arguably never be matched on the PGA tour again.

"I don't imagine it gets any more hectic than that," said Wilson, a Castle High graduate who lives in Las Vegas. "At least now I know I can make a golf swing under that scrutiny."

After a final-round 68 yesterday, Wilson finished in a seven-way tie for 21st place at 5 under for a $48,357 check, but that's not what he'll remember when he thinks back to the 2003 Colonial.

"I'm sure there will be many tournaments I finish 20th in, but I'll reflect on the times I spent with (Sorenstam) and the excitement of it all," Wilson said. "Being inside the ropes and playing with all that electricity in the air with Annika was fantastic."

He might not have brought home any hardware, or a plaid jacket for that matter, but Wilson may have come away with something more valuable than that. Watching Sorenstam play reminded him why he took up the game. for the challenge; because it's fun.

"Sometimes I think we get out here and treat it as a job," Wilson said. "We get upset when we don't perform well and we get angry when people are making noise or whatever. I just watched how she held herself. And she legitimately had a lot of fun and she was so nervous and she was so challenged."

Wilson may be as responsible as anybody for the popularity of the "Go Annika" buttons, which he wore to the press conference subsequent to his pairing with Sorenstam. He made good use of it, later pinning it to a club head cover where it remained on display until the tournament's conclusion. As for what he plans to do with it, "I'm going to keep that and the flag she signed for me as memorabilia," Wilson said. "That's for sure."

A fan of Sorenstam's before he played with her, Wilson remembers watching her hit balls a number of years ago at the Ladies Hawaiian Open and being impressed. He has followed her on television and plans to continue to do so.

"I really think more people can learn to play the game well from watching Annika Sorenstam rather than watching some of the guys out here," Wilson said. "The average person can't boom it out there 330 yards, but watching the way she plots herself around the golf course and takes advantage of the situations that she can is amazing."

Sorenstam and Wilson will go their separate ways, Wilson to Dublin, Ohio, for the Memorial and Sorenstam to Aurora, Ill., to defend her championship at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic. Both will leave this once-in-a-lifetime experience behind them, but the two hope to get together in the future. They exchanged phone numbers and look forward to playing together in an atmosphere slightly more relaxed.

"Then I can see what she's really got," Wilson said "And then I'll lose all my money."

Scoreboard
$5 million Bank of America Colonial
At Fort Worth, Texas

Par-70 (35-35), 7,080 yards,
Colonial Country Club course

• Kenny Perry, $900,000 68-64-61-68—261
• Justin Leonard, $540,000 68-72-66-61—267
• Jeff Sluman, $340,000 68-68-67-65—268
• Brandt Jobe, $240,000 67-70-68-64—269
• Pat Bates, $175,625 69-66-69-66—270
• Hal Sutton, $175,625 71-67-65-67—270
• Rory Sabbatini, $175,625 64-70-67-69—270
• Jim Furyk, $175,625 68-65-69-68—270
• Fred Funk, $130,000 70-67-69-66—272
• Esteban Toledo, $130,000 68-68-69-67—272
• Dan Forsman, $130,000 66-66-73-67—272
• Harrison Frazar, $130,000 69-69-66-68—272
• Marco Dawson, $91,000 68-70-71-64—273
• Loren Roberts, $91,000 67-69-70-67—273
• Phil Mickelson, $91,000 67-70-68-68—273
• Steve Flesch, $91,000 69-66-69-69—273
• Stewart Cink, $91,000 67-70-66-70—273
• Lee Janzen, $70,000 71-67-70-66—274
• Jay Haas, $70,000 69-70-67-68—274
• Olin Browne, $70,000 67-71-68-68—274
• John Senden, $48,357.15 71-70-68-66—275
• Brandel Chamblee, $48,357.15 70-69-70-66—275
• Billy Mayfair, $48,357.14 69-70-68-68—275
• Dean Wilson, $48,357.14 71-67-69-68—275
• Tim Petrovic, $48,357.14 68-66-72-69—275
• Briny Baird, $48,357.14 70-68-68-69—275
• Nick Price, $48,357.14 70-70-65-70—275
• Shigeki Maruyama, $32,535.72 70-68-70-68—276
• Carl Pettersson, $32,535.72 71-69-68-68—276
• Gene Sauers, $32,535.72 69-68-70-69—276
• Jay Williamson, $32,535.71 67-67-73-69—276
• Corey Pavin, $32,535.71 68-70-69-69—276
• Patrick Sheehan, $32,535.71 65-72-68-71—276
• Frank Lickliter II, $32,535.71 68-66-70-72—276
• Dudley Hart, $24,650 70-71-68-68—277
• Bob Burns, $24,650 69-70-70-68—277
• Jesper Parnevik, $24,650 66-68-73-70—277
• Billy Andrade, $24,650 68-68-71-70—277
• Alex Cejka, $24,650 70-70-65-72—277
• Chad Campbell, $19,500 67-67-74-70—278
• Tim Herron, $19,500 71-68-69-70—278
• Kirk Triplett, $19,500 69-71-70-68—278
• Spike McRoy, $19,500 67-72-71-68—278
• Glen Day, $19,500 67-70-75-66—278
• Brett Quigley, $14,014.29 67-73-68-71—279
• Rocco Mediate, $14,014.29 68-72-68-71—279
• Woody Austin, $14,014.29 70-67-72-70—279
• J.L. Lewis, $14,014.29 72-69-70-68—279
• Shaun Micheel, $14,014.28 71-69-72-67—279
• Stephen Ames, $14,014.28 67-72-74-66—279
• Brian Gay, $14,014.28 68-69-76-66—279
• Craig Parry, $11,725 67-70-72-71—280
• Joe Durant, $11,725 70-70-71-69—280
• J.P. Hayes, $11,725 70-71-71-68—280
• Bob Tway, $11,725 69-70-73-68—280
• Duffy Waldorf, $11,200 67-70-71-73—281
• Brian Watts, $11,200 67-71-72-71—281
• Mike Sposa, $11,200 67-69-74-71—281
• Greg Chalmers, $11,200 68-71-72-70—281
• Mark Calcavecchia, $11,200 65-75-72-69—281
• Len Mattiace, $10,900 69-69-75-69—282
• Scott Verplank, $10,650 69-69-71-74—283
• Brian Henninger, $10,650 70-69-71-73—283
• Brenden Pappas, $10,650 70-68-74-71—283
• David Frost, $10,650 69-71-75-68—283
• Steve Elkington, $10,200 72-68-70-74—284
• Peter Jacobsen, $10,200 72-68-71-73—284
• Joey Sindelar, $10,200 69-71-71-73—284
• Jonathan Kaye, $10,200 73-67-72-72—284
• Rich Beem, $10,200 68-69-76-71—284
• Cliff Kresge, $9,800 68-70-73-74—285
• Luke Donald, $9,800 68-71-73-73—285
• Brent Geiberger, $9,800 71-70-72-72—285
• Jeff Brehaut, $9,550 68-70-74-74—286
• Tom Byrum, $9,550 70-71-72-73—286
• Fulton Allem, $9,400 75-66-74-78—293

Names in bold indicate players with ties to Hawai'i.