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BOB HARIGAnnika Sorenstam's 1-over-par 71 is as much of a relief as it is historic for the LPGA star and her fans.
FORT WORTH, Texas - The opening tee shot soared into the air to the roar of the crowd, sailing past her playing partners and into history, a woman playing with the men in a PGA Tour event for the first time in 58 years.
Annika Sorenstam stumbled in mock relief, and hundreds of fans who surrounded the 10th tee Thursday morning at Colonial Country Club laughed along with her. The nerve-racking first stroke finally happened after three months of hype and several minutes of angst waiting to hear her name announced.
Some 4 hours and 15 minutes later, Sorenstam walked purposefully to the final green to the sound of loud cheers and fans chanting her name. Not even a three-putt bogey could erase the smile from her face, nor the pride in her achievement at the Colonial.
Sorenstam shot 1-over-par 71, costing many bettors some bucks with the Las Vegas bookies, who set the over-under at 76.5. Her score was better than 27 in the 113-player field, and tied 13 others.
And with a similar showing today, she just might make the 36-hole cut.
The top 70 and ties make the cut. Sorenstam was tied for 73rd, seven shots behind tournament leader Rory Sabbatini, who shot 64.
Vijay Singh and Nick Price be damned.
"Oh, I'm so relieved to sit here," said Sorenstam, 32, who became the first woman since Babe Didrikson to play on the PGA Tour since 1945. "Obviously I'm very, very pleased with the way I played all day. But, oh, I was so nervous on the tee. Actually, I was nervous all day."
Sorenstam, a Hall of Famer in waiting on the LPGA Tour, where she has 43 career victories, hardly played like she was nervous. Perhaps the white pants she wore on a muddy course were a clue: Sorenstam ventured into the rough just once all day.
She hit 13 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens, and never had to hit a chip shot on the 7,080-yard course, one that is some 600 yards longer than what she typically plays on the LPGA Tour.
When she rolled in a 15-footer for her first birdie on the par-3 13th, her fourth hole, you'd have thought Jack Nicklaus was charging through Amen Corner at Augusta.
"You tip your cap to her and hope she continues it," said PGA Tour veteran Dan Forsman, who shot 66. "What a story this would be. My gosh. This is exciting. It's exciting to us to see her play like that. And with the media, it's got to be unbelievable. I hope she does it. I'm pulling for her."
The only disappointment, perhaps, was putting, which kept her from shooting a score in the 60s. Sorenstam made one birdie and two bogeys, both three putts. She missed a 5-footer for birdie at the par-3 16th hole (her seventh) and had five more birdie putts from inside 20 feet that she missed.
Sorenstam's first bogey didn't come until her 14th hole, the 470-yard, par-4 fifth, where she missed her only fairway. She also bogeyed her last hole, the ninth, when her 7-iron approach skipped over the green, her putt from the fringe slid 7 feet past the cup, and she missed.
"I was a little tentative all day long," she said. "I think when I got it to the hole I made it, so I should get it to the hole more often. But some of the pins were tricky. And when I get a little nervous, I get a little tentative. That's what happened. I've got to work on the speed, especially my lag putts, and I will figure it out."
All in all, however, it was an impressive performance around Hogan's Alley.
"As the round went on, I was just thinking if she was ever going to miss a shot," said Aaron Barber, a PGA Tour rookie who played in her group and shot 72. "I have never seen anyone go that long without missing a fairway. She hit the middle of the green so solidly. She didn't miss a shot all day. It was very impressive to watch. I really liked her game a lot."
"She played fantastic," said Dean Wilson, who also played with Sorenstam and shot 71. "I was really impressed with her game. She hit the ball a little farther than I thought she would. Very accurate. It was great to see. I just really admired the way she held herself and the way she played the course."
The tournament had the feeling of a major championship and Sorenstam had a gallery and a media horde much like that of Tiger Woods. In fact, the 200 or more media members who followed her inside the ropes is typically more fans than she attracts at an LPGA event.
"It's been incredible," she said. "It started the first day I came here with the crowd. Everybody's going, "Go girl, go Annika, you can do it.' Everybody is so encouraging and so positive. Obviously that gets me going as well."
Sorenstam resisted the urge to take any shots at her detractors, including Singh and Price, who were part of a growing majority who voiced displeasure about her getting a sponsors exemption into the tournament. Among the players she beat were Sergio Garcia (72), Mark Brooks (72) and Tom Lehman (73).
As she walked from the Colonial clubhouse after signing her scorecard, a fan bellowed out to Sorenstam that he had bet on her and taken the "under," a show of encouragement.
"I should have bet on myself," she said.