Annika Sorenstam won for the 47th time on the LPGA Tour, is headed toward another $2-million season and will qualify for the Hall of Fame next week on her 33rd birthday.
Clearly, she is the best player of her generation.
But the best ever?
Beth Daniel, 46, offered a credible perspective after finishing one stroke behind Sorenstam at the Safeway Classic on Sunday.
"I'm not taking anything away from anyone, but as far as shotmakers and the best female player I've ever seen, nobody touches Mickey Wright," she said.
Daniel competed against Wright and Kathy Whitworth as a rookie in 1979. She played against JoAnne Carner in her prime, and her peers were Pat Bradley, Betsy King, Nancy Lopez, Patty Sheehan, Amy Alcott and Juli Inkster, all of them in the Hall of Fame.
Where does she rank Sorenstam?
"She's No. 1 in the world right now. She's been No. 1 in the world for a long time, and she definitely knows how to finish a golf tournament," Daniel said. "But you have to realize, I've seen a lot of the really great players."
EASY DOES IT: World traveler Ernie Els might start changing his schedule to play more on the PGA Tour. His 4-year-old daughter is about to start school, and Els said his globe-trotting schedule of the past 10 years needs to change.
