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Sorenstam's 59 is magic for LPGA, too

By BOB HARIG

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001

As great as Tiger Woods is for golf, his accomplishments tend to dwarf everything else in the game. The Senior PGA Tour has seen its television ratings decline, and the LPGA is constantly starved for attention.

That's why Annika Sorenstam's 59 last week at the Standard Register Ping was the perfect tonic. No amount of manufactured hype -- even with a major championship on the schedule this week -- could do more for the tour than a player shooting golf's magic number.

Sorenstam went where no woman had gone before in tournament play, making 13 birdies and no bogeys over the Moon Valley Country Club course in Phoenix, stunning and delighting her rivals.

"I never shot so well and felt so bad," said Dottie Pepper, who could manage "only" 67.

In the history of golf, five men have shot below 60 during an official tournament round, three on the PGA Tour: Al Geiberger in 1977, Chip Beck in 1991 and David Duval in 1999.

The cynics already are out in full force, questioning the course, wondering if all the tees were moved to the front, figuring the pins were in the middle of the greens.

But all the greats of the game will agree that you still have to get the ball into the hole, that easy conditions offer no guarantee.

"The next-best round I saw was a 64 and then a 66," Duval said of Sorenstam's 59. "She played five shots better than anybody else, seven shots better than the next person. How often do you see a five-shot difference? That's a good way to look at it."

Here's another way: Sorenstam missed just one fairway and hit all 18 greens in regulation. No par putt was longer than 3 feet. Because Sorenstam had no eagles, she left herself little margin for error.

Sorenstam has won the past two tournaments and enters today's Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif., the hottest player in the game. The best thing she can do for the LPGA is embrace the attention. Her predecessor in that role, Karrie Webb, seemed annoyed at any comparisons to Woods, no matter how flattering. Sorenstam seemingly just wants to keep making birdies.

She made eight in a row to start her historic round, and 12 in the first 13 holes. She conceivably could have shot 58 or 57.

"She always tells me she wants to shoot a 54 one day," said Sorenstam's friend, Stafania Croce. "In her mind, she believes she can make 18 birdies some day. The power of her mind is amazing. It's really what separates her from everyone else out here. Talent is one thing, but Annika is something else. There are no doubts in her mind."

TIGER'S AURA: Although Woods won Sunday at Bay Hill, birdieing the final hole to edge Phil Mickelson by a shot, it is apparent his aura of invincibility is wearing off.

A year ago, Colin Montgomerie came to the Players Championship and more or less admitted that players often felt they were playing for second when they saw Woods' name up on the leaderboard. Not so now, said Monty.

"Phil came very close to beating him last week. The intimidation factor is possibly not what it was," Montgomerie said. "I think the competition is catching up, and it's amazing how that does happen with someone dominating the way Tiger did last year."

"Tiger raised the bar by winning nine tournaments (in 2000)," Hal Sutton said. "He raised a bar that he probably can't even reproduce. The problem is, that's where your expectations lie. I mean, let's be real. Let's talk about what's possible and what's not possible."

AROUND GOLF: Arnold Palmer was second-guessing the weatherman Sunday when forecasted rain did not come until well after the conclusion of his Bay Hill Invitational. The threat of bad weather prompted tournament officials to move up the starting times, resulting in a tape-delayed telecast of the final round, which, as it turns out, could have been played as scheduled. ... With Byron Nelson saying he no longer will serve as an honorary starter after this year's Masters, Palmer said don't nominate him just yet. But he did have a candidate. "I think Jack (Nicklaus) has gotten to the point where he should," said Palmer, poking fun at his longtime rival. ... Masters champion Vijay Singh is the only player who has no rounds over par on the PGA Tour this year.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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