Texas, Feb 15: Annika Sorenstam has no idea how she'll do when she tees it up against PGA Tour pros in May at the Colonial. She does know how she'll feel -- nervous but not scared.
''I'm not afraid to face this at all,'' Sorenstam said. ''I'm going to enjoy the journey to Colonial.''
Basking in the attention of her decision to play in a PGA Tour event in Fort Worth, Texas, Sorenstam said Thursday she plans to use the experience to take her game to a new level on the LPGA Tour, where she is already dominant. Just what that experience turns out to be, she's not quite sure.
''I don't think anybody really knows,'' Sorenstam said. ''I have no idea what will happen. That's what makes it exciting.''
The world's best female golfer plans to hit from the back tees in her practice rounds and play against men as she prepares to become the first woman to compete on the PGA Tour in 58 years.



''You've got to remember these are the best guys in the world and the course I'm going to play is tougher than I normally play,'' Sorenstam said in a conference call. ''I'm going to practice harder, and hopefully I can take my game to a different level.''



Sorenstam, who won 11 times on the LPGA Tour last year, left open the possibility that she might play in other PGA events if she is successful at the Colonial.



''I'm just going to leave it at one and see what happens,'' she said. ''I'm not ruling anything out.''



Sorenstam said she has thought for some time in the back of her mind that she might want to play against men, but it wasn't until a reporter asked her two weeks ago if she would that events began moving.



She said she studied the PGA Tour schedule to find a course that would fit, and also got a call from former Colonial champion Dave Stockton, who described to her how the 7,080-yard course plays.



''There's 90 percent of courses on the PGA Tour where I wouldn't have a chance,'' Sorenstam said. ''It would be ridiculous to try.'' She also brushed off comments by Tiger Woods that a bad showing would set back women's golf.



''That's Tiger's opinion,'' she said. ''This is good for women's golf. This is good for me in many ways. If I can play better golf after this I'll take it back to the LPGA and I'll raise the level there.''



One of golf's greatest players ever gives Sorenstam a shot. ''The biggest problem she is going to have is the hard greens, which she doesn't see a lot on the women's tour,'' Jack Nicklaus said. ''But she's a very good player. If she plays very well, would she finish in the top 20 or something? Could she win? Probably not. She's certainly capable of making the cut. She's a very good player.''


Bureau Report