B.C. Open Invites Sorenstam to Play in PGA Tour Event

Annika Sorenstam, the world’s No. 1-ranked women’s golfer, might get the chance to test her skills against the men at this year’s B.C. Open.

Mike Norman, director of the PGA Tour event in Endicott, N.Y., on Thursday offered Sorenstam an exemption to play, a day after she said she would be willing to enter a men’s tournament if invited and if the course wasn’t too long.

“If that’s the case, I thought to myself ‘Why wouldn’t I want to have one of the best golfers in the world come to the B.C. Open?’ ” Norman said.

Sorenstam, 32, won 10 events on the LPGA Tour in 2002. The En-Joi Golf Club, site of the B.C. Open, is 6,974 yards, about 700 yards longer than a typical LPGA course.

The tournament is July 17-20, the same weekend as the British Open.