Annika Sorenstam’s quest to test herself with the big boys on the PGA Tour ended after two days yesterday, when the pressure of the spotlight and the difficulty of the course combined to make her miss the cut by four strokes.
“It was way over my head,” she told USA Network after saving a par on 18 with a 10-foot put to finish at 5-over- par 145 for her two days.
Sorenstam said she was overjoyed at the support of the crowd, but grew tired on the second day as she scored five bogeys in a span of eight holes and failed to make a comeback.
“I’m not as tough as I thought,” said the philosophical Swede, who added that this will be her only visit to the men’s tour. “I have to go back to my tour where I belong.”
Sorenstam went into yesterday’s second round of the Colonial tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, 1 over par.
That gave her a legitimate shot at being among the roughly 70 golfers in the tournament who make the cut and are able to play in the final two rounds.
The chances for the 32-year-old, who said “I came here to test myself,” looked even better when she birdied the second hole.
But at the long 470-yard par-4 fifth hole, she began to unravel. She would bogey (one shot over par) that hole, along with the sixth, the eighth, the 10th and the 12th.
“I tried and tried,” she said. “And I had the best time of my life.”
Sorenstam, considered the best player on the women’s tour, was the first woman to play with the men since Babe Didrikson Zaharias 58 years ago.
Her participation was controversial as some established PGA Tour players like Vijay Singh objected to the decision to let her play. But yesterday she got nothing but praise from her playing partners.
“That’s tremendous pressure to put on someone,” said Dean Wilson. “And I think she did fantastic.”
One thing’s for sure. Sorenstam’s historic two-days performance scored big bucks for her and her corporate sponsors, who benefited from a telecast on the USA Network that was virtually all Annika all the time.
The amount of television time she got on Thursday alone has reportedly given her sponsors at least $300,000 in free publicity, according to estimates made by the sponsorship company Joyce Julius & Associates.
On Thursday, the company said the logo for the Callaway golf equipment company could be clearly seen for 11 minutes, 53 seconds, the British newspaper The Guardian reported.
The company would have had to pay some $12,000 per minute if it wanted to run an ad during the telecasts, the paper said.
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ANNIKA BY THE NUMBERS
SCORE: 145 (+4)
BIRDIES IN ROUND 2: 1
BOGEYS IN ROUND 2: 5
HOLES PARRED IN ROUND 2: 12
MEN WHO SHOT WORSE IN ROUND 2: 11