GOLF / THOMAS BONK : It’s Going to Be Tough for Her to Win Most Improved Player

She’s Sweden’s brightest new export since the Volvo, swings clubs so hot they must be baked in a sauna and made her first U.S. tour victory the U.S. Women’s Open.

Annika Sorenstam is 25, the top women’s player on two continents and the best thing to happen to women’s golf since, well, Laura Davies.

Not only did Sorenstam win the 1995 money title on the LPGA and European WPG tours, she was the LPGA player of the year and won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

The only others who have won the triple crown--the money title, player of the year and the Vare Trophy--are Betsy King, Dottie Mochrie, Pat Bradley and Beth Daniel.

That’s not bad company for Sorenstam, the 1994 LPGA rookie of the year.

“It’s hard to believe all this has happened in one year,” Sorenstam said. “But there are a lot of things for me to work on. It’s just the start of my career.”

Sorenstam gets together with another 1995 major winner, Nabisco Dinah Shore champion Nanci Bowen, in the $2.1-million Diners Club matches, Thursday through Sunday at the Nicklaus Course at PGA West. It’s a match-play format with teams from the LPGA, PGA and Senior PGA tours.

Sorenstam’s parents competed in basketball, handball and track as well as golf and they influenced her decision to try sports.

She tried tennis first at 5, but decided she liked golf better at 12. By the time she was 16, Sorenstam was chosen for Sweden’s junior national team.

Sorenstam won the World Amateur in 1992, the same year she was runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She won seven titles at the University of Arizona and was college player of the year and NCAA champion in 1991.

After winning $666,533 to lead the LPGA money list and $130,324 to lead in Europe, Sorenstam is leaving herself a tough act to follow in 1996.

“I have to go home, think about the year, work on my golf game,” she said. “It’s hard to achieve more than this.”

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Capt. Kite: The appointment of Tom Kite as U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 1997 matches against Europe in Spain may be a bold one--especially if Kite follows through on his vow to play at the highest levels on the PGA Tour in 1996.

Kite, who is coming off his worst season since 1980, said he intends to play his way onto the Ryder Cup team and be a player-captain in 1997. No one has done that since Arnold Palmer in 1963.

“Certainly there are many more demands on your time, a lot of pressures that go into the captaincy right now,” Kite said. “It would be a difficult task, but not a task that I think is insurmountable.”

As for Kite playing his way onto the team, Raymond Floyd, the 1989 U.S. captain, sounded a word of caution.

“It was my worst year,” said Floyd, who won only $74,699 in 1989, his lowest total since 1973. “The commitment you make as captain, it’s such a tremendous honor, but there is so much behind the scenes.

“Tom is very deserving to be chosen. But all I know is that playing golf, I had my worst year in years. So did Lanny [Wadkins]. I’m not saying Tom will, but we did.”

Wadkins was captain of the U.S. team that lost to Europe by one point at Oak Hill in Rochester in September. The year he was named as captain, his winnings dropped to $54,114 from $244,544. Wadkins missed seven of his last eight cuts this year and ranked No. 162 on the money list.

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Ratings game: The TV ratings for the Skins Games last weekend were down 4% to a 4.4 on Saturday and down 16% to a 3.6 on Sunday.

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Chain reaction: Another golf tournament, just what we need, right? Actually, yes, Floyd said.

“The charity was the key,” said Floyd, host of the $1-million Lexus Challenge Dec. 13-16 at the Citrus Course at La Quinta, where 10% of the total purse goes directly to Childhelp USA, an anti-abuse program.

“To have a golf tournament to have a tournament, I didn’t want any part of it. There are enough tournaments.

“The question was could we make a difference? I think so. If you help just one kid, you’ve probably helped a mom, a dad, or a whole family. It’s a chain reaction.”

Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Chi Chi Rodriguez, and such celebrities as Julius Erving, Clint Eastwood and Glenn Frey are scheduled to play in the event.