Sorenstam eager to prove she belongs

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Annika Sorenstam marched to the first tee and quickly removed her rain jacket like a fighter taking off a robe after stepping into the ring.

At the start of her practice round Tuesday with Jesper Parnevik and Sergio Garcia, she needed to know what kind of match they were playing and how much money was at stake.

"Jesper asked me how many shots I wanted," Sorenstam recalled. "And I told him, 'I'm not here to get any shots.' He didn't say much more after that."

Sorenstam did not walk into this cauldron at Colonial Country Club seeking strokes, much less sympathy. She only wanted to see how her game -- the best in women's golf -- would stack up against the men.

After years of dreaming and three months of hype, she's about to find out.

On Thursday, Sorenstam will become the first woman in 58 years to compete on the PGA Tour, a challenge she compared to climbing Mount Everest.

"If I wait another week, three months or three years, I won't be any more prepared," Sorenstam said. "I'm ready to go."

The practice round didn't last long at all.

Sorenstam's drive sailed into the right rough. She advanced the ball up the fairway, but still had 190 yards left to the green on the 565-yard hole that most players reach in two. Her 5-iron went short and right, hopping into a right bunker.

Sirens began to wail, storm clouds darkened and practice rounds were halted until later in the day.

Sorenstam called out to her partners, "Just leave the money in my locker."

It was a light moment, and Sorenstam can use some of those. Ever since she decided in February to play on the PGA Tour, she has been besieged by questions about what she will shoot, whether she will make the cut and how she will handle the pressure.

Only one other player commands this much attention in golf, and Tiger Woods isn't anywhere near Colonial this week.

Media credentials are approaching 600, quadruple the usual number for the tournament. Sorenstam sneaked in the back gates Monday afternoon to avoid about 80 reporters and photographers who gathered on the steps of the clubhouse to chronicle her arrival.

A security detail surrounds her every step, and even getting into a black Cadillac outside the media center was a hassle.

"When I accepted the invitation, I must have been very naive," Sorenstam said, looking out at about 300 people at her news conference. "I'm doing this to test myself, and I didn't think everybody else wanted to test me at the same time."

The last woman to play on the PGA Tour was Babe Zaharias in 1945. She qualified for the Los Angeles Open and made the 36-hole cut but was eliminated after a third-round 76.

That was only a footnote in the career of Zaharias, a champion golfer and Olympian considered the greatest female athlete of the 20th century.

This could be a defining moment in Sorenstam's career. Whether she makes the cut or finishes at the bottom of the pack, her performance at Colonial might be remembered more than her 43 victories, four majors and her record round of 59.

"I like to compare myself maybe with a mountain climber," she said. "This will be Mount Everest for me, and I believe I have practiced for this for years. I feel like I have nothing to lose. Nobody expects anything from me."

Some have been vocal about it.

Scott Hoch, who is not playing this year, said he wants to see Sorenstam play well so she can see how much "separation there is between us and the ladies' tour."

Vijay Singh was the harshest critic, telling The Associated Press last week, "I hope she misses the cut."

Even Nick Price, one of the more gracious players in golf, said her appearance "reeks of publicity."

Sorenstam would not be drawn into the debate, saying only she was disappointed that Singh withdrew this week after winning the Byron Nelson Classic.

As for those who expect her to miss the cut?

"It's funny. Suddenly, everybody is an expert on my game and how I think," she said. "And some of them have never seen me play."

Sorenstam expects plenty from herself. No one pushes herself harder, stretching to limits few other women have dared to consider.

"I'm not here to prove anything to anybody," she said. "I'm just here to test myself and get a feel for the water here, and learn from the experience."

Woods called Sorenstam on her cell phone Monday morning to offer final tips -- mostly how to cope with the media.

"He told me he would be watching, so I better play well," Sorenstam said.

She will play in the first two rounds with a pair of PGA Tour rookies -- Dean Wilson and Aaron Barber -- who might be under the same scrutiny.

"She's going to beat some people, no doubt," Barber said. "I'm worried about 113 people beating me every week. It's a great opportunity for us to be part of history here."

Wilson wore a "Go Annika" button that is being sold for $3 in the pro shop at Colonial, although he won't wear it when the tournament starts. He has watched Sorenstam play and has no qualms with her spot in the field or his place in her group.

"It's exciting; it's history," he said. "And it's a privilege to be part of it."