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Two Days in May Why Sorenstam Proved She Belonged With the Men By
Jason Page May 22 and 23. Just your average Thursday and Friday in a month that’s typically remembered for the NBA Playoffs, horse racing’s Triple Crown, and The Indianapolis 500. Years from now, though, sports fans will recall with great accuracy, the excitement from these two days in May, when a Swedish golfer turned “Hogan’s Alley” into “Annika’s Alley”. The Colonial Golf Tournament barely registers a pulse on the May sports scene. Then again, most golf tournaments fail to garner much in the way of media attention when Tiger Woods stays home. If 150 media credentials were handed out for the event played in Fort Worth, Texas, it would be a lot. But these two days in May were far different. Nearly 600 members of the media would flock to Texas for reasons far greater than golf. These two days in May belonged to Annika Sorenstam. When the world’s best female golfer decided to accept a sponsor's exemption from the folks at the Colonial a few months back, many people in the media, along with members of the PGA. Tour scoffed. Questions on the motivation for such an idea were constant from the outset. Those questions began to fade in the next few weeks as the tour got its season kicked off on the sunny courses of Hawaii. The typical tournaments that only a die-hard golf fan would watch came and went with little fanfare. After the seasons first major--The Masters--attention began shifting towards the Colonial and its first female competitor. The LPGA is a tour that receives about as much attention as I do in a swimsuit competition. In fact, If I asked you to name two of the LPGA’s majors, you would probably fail miserably. Don’t worry, I would too. This is why Annika Sorenstam took this challenge of taking on the PGA’s supposed best. Aside from compiling a massive amount of wins on the women’s tour, what more could she possibly need to accomplish?? Money? Has it. Respect from peers? Has it. Majors? Has them. A 59 on her resume? Has it. Are you hearing me Vijay Singh? What would it take for Annika’s two days in May to be a success? Was it making the cut?? A top 25 finish? That’s all depending on who you spoke with. I think her scores of 71 and 74 in her respective rounds were as much as could be expected considering it was her first tournament with the men. Add to this the “Tiger-like” crowds following Sorenstam and one could easily see why the world's best female golfer would feel a little tense with a putter in her hand and a twisty 20-foot putt in front of her. Oh by the way, that two-round total of 145, was better than the 146 posted by 2002 Players Championship winner Craig Perks. Guess that means Craig should pack it in and retire. As impressive as her play from tee to green was, her attitude for the two days was even more to marvel. As bright as the spotlight on Sorenstam was, her smiles were even brighter. There was never an angry word about a single detractor and nothing but respect for her two playing partners over whom, incidentally, she posted a better score. The supportive crowds while providing pressure, also provided comfort. Signs and pins littered the galleries that were often nine and 10 deep. As much love as Annika received in her two days at Colonial, she gave it back ten-fold in her final moments on the stage at the tournament. She applauded the crowd and then calmly sank a lengthy par putt before showing us she was human after all. With tears streaming down her face, Sorenstam had finally realized her dream. Her two days in May probably felt like 20 minutes, and they were over just like that. Babe Zaharias, possibly the greatest female athlete of all time, was the first woman to play in a PGA tour event back in 1945. She proved then, that select women could play with the big boys. She made the cut in her first tournament in Los Angeles. She went on to play a couple of other tournaments as well before calling it a career. No other female even considered playing with the men since then, until Sorenstam, and be rest assured, she won’t be the last. Michelle Wie is a 13-year old whose played in several LPGA tour events during the current season. She can drive a golf ball far further than most men even care to know. She’ll be playing in a men’s tournament in September in Boise, Idaho, on the PGA’s Developmental Nationwide Tour. But first, Suzy Whaley, a thirty-something female golfer will play in the Greater Hartford Open. Whaley qualified for the tournament being played late in July, by winning her sectional. She did it from tees that made the course 10% shorter than the one her competitors faced. When she plays the Greater Hartford Open this summer, it’ll be from the men’s tees. Despite this, Whaley has still elected to play in Hartford. The future of women playing on the P.G.A Tour is still a cloudy one. Select naysayers will undoubtedly continue to show their ignorance when it comes to the subject, but women are strong, and then continue to become stronger both mentally and physically. They won’t be held down much longer. The “Babe” laid down the foundation for women to take on this task, Annika Sorenstam took the torch and ran with it. Her performance under the most adverse of circumstances is something that everyone in the gay and lesbian community can look at. One day, such scrutiny will exist for the first active mainstream athlete to come out of the closet. Every pitch, shot or swing analyzed to the point of absurdity. For now, we’ll have to wait patiently for that day. In the meantime, we wait for the next women’s golf great to roar through the finish line. The wait will be more than worth while. Are you hearing me Hootie Johnson?
Jason Page is currently an on-air personality on
Sirius Satelite Radio's GLBT Radio Stream, OutQ. It is the nation's
first talk-radio station entirely dedicated to the Gay Community. Page
works as an Associate Producer and personality on both the Wayne Besen
Show (7-10 a.m. Monday-Friday) and the Michaelangelo Signorile Show
(1-4 p.m. Monday-Friday). Page has also worked as a play-by-play work
in minor-league baseball. May 27, 2003 |