Course of History

There are 113 players in one locker room at Colonial Country Club and only one in the other ... the women’s locker room that is reserved for the exclusive use of Annika Sorenstam.

So if you’re keeping score, it’s separate and sort of equal. She knows it too.

“I feel, obviously, like the odd woman out,” she said.

The odd woman in this tournament is also the star attraction. She showed up to play a practice round with Jesper Parnevik and Sergio Garcia, and as they stood at the first tee, just before they got started, Parnevik drew Sorenstam aside.

“He asked me how many shots I wanted,” Sorenstam said. “I told him I’m not here to get any shots.”

She’s taken a few, though. And so began the fun, if that’s what it is, here at drippy Colonial, appropriately located just down the street from the Fort Worth Zoo.

Colonial was a soggy and sloshy place to be Tuesday when rain washed out Sorenstam’s morning practice round, as well as everyone else’s, just days before her feverishly over-hyped appearance in the 57th Bank of America Colonial tournament.

Rain? There’s only one conclusion. Like everyone else, Mother Nature is paying attention to this gender-bending three-way experiment in professional golf, revisited history and media obsession.

For instance, there are 12 news-gathering entities here from Sweden. At last count, there were 476 reporters here, which ought to be enough, since there are only 114 players in the field.

Of course, as far as the media are concerned, about 113 of them are irrelevant.

It was an eventful day for Sorenstam, even if she was able to play only three shots before a thunderstorm chased her off the course. For the record, Sorenstam missed the fairway of the 565-yard No. 1 with her driver, left her second shot short, then missed the green with a five-iron.

She was back out on the course in the afternoon, which made it a long day for Sorenstam, who had arrived at 6:30 a.m. If she was expecting friendly welcomes, she was not disappointed. Warmly greeted by Fred Funk, Sorenstam ran into Tom Pernice, who told her he was available if she had any questions. Then she had breakfast with Jeff Sluman.

Dean Wilson, who will play in Sorenstam’s group the first two rounds, wore a round, green button with two words printed on it: “Go Annika.”

“I feel the support,” Sorenstam said.

Whether it’s there or not, at exactly 8:58 a.m. Thursday, Sorenstam will become the first woman to play a PGA Tour event in 58 years. Her playing partners will be Wilson, a 33-year-old tour rookie from Las Vegas; and Aaron Barber, a 30-year-old rookie from Maple Grove, Minn.

They both said they were happy about that, which is interesting enough, but they even sounded as if they meant it.

“She’s earned this opportunity,” Barber said. “She got an unrestricted sponsor’s exemption. She didn’t take a spot [from somebody else]. She’s earned this on her resume. And that’s how you get sponsor exemptions.”

If Barber and Wilson were pleased to be at Colonial, others did not feel the same. For various reasons, eight players withdrew, led by Vijay Singh, who announced his decision Sunday after he’d won the Byron Nelson. The others are David Duval, Brad Faxon, Scott Hoch, Fuzzy Zoeller, Aaron Baddeley, Paul Stankowski and Ben Crane.

Wilson has two top-10 finishes, he has won $441,440 and he’s a six-time winner worldwide, mostly on the Japan Golf Tour. He didn’t seem concerned about the possibility of finishing lower than Sorenstam.

“If she plays well and I play bad, anybody can beat me,” he said.

Barber has missed 10 cuts in 13 tournaments but has won $238,750. A veteran of the Canadian Tour and Hooters Tour, Barber’s average driving distance of 280.6 is about five yards better than Sorenstam’s. Wilson’s 275.9 average is only slightly better than Sorenstam’s.

“She’s going to beat some people, there’s no doubt,” Barber said.

Sorenstam insists that’s not what it’s all about for her. She told a packed news conference Tuesday afternoon that her quest is not a battle of the sexes but rather a one-shot deal, and she isn’t interested in winning one for women everywhere.

“There is no way I would have accepted this invitation if I was trying to prove something here,” she said. “I’m just here -- maybe a little selfish, since I’m just trying to test myself. But there’s no way I like to have all the women on my shoulders. That’s just too much pressure. So I’m just going to leave it up to me and do the best I can. And when I leave here on Sunday, I’ll know what I’ve got to work on and I will do that.

“I’m not here to drive the ball as far as the men. I’m not here to spin the ball because I have a different type of game. If I could hit it 300 yards and spin it 10 feet back, then I would do that every week, obviously. But I feel very comfortable in my game and we’ll see how that will do on this golf course.”

She spent last week at home at Lake Nona, Fla., working with her coach, Henry Reiss, on her swing and her short game. Sorenstam said Tiger Woods called her twice on Monday and boosted her confidence, but there have been several PGA Tour pros who have not been as supportive. That group includes Singh, Hoch, Zoeller and also Nick Price, the defending champion who didn’t want to talk much about Sorenstam.

“Where have you been the last 2 1/2 months?” Price said. “Yeah, you’re entitled to ask. I’m entitled not to answer.”

Price has been outspoken in his criticism of extending a sponsor’s exemption to Sorenstam and said the move “reeks of publicity.”

But Price also said he admired Sorenstam’s ability.

“Golf’s a game where we all prove ourselves,” he said. “And there’s no doubt she’s proven herself. She’s got a great game and I wish her the very best of luck this week.”

There are no hard feelings on Sorenstam’s part for anyone who disagrees with her mission. She says she is ready for the challenge, will be trying to enjoy herself and, more important, trying to shoot level-par 140 for 36 holes because that’s what she believes will allow her to make the cut.

At the same time, Sorenstam knows it’s not going to be easy.

“I like to compare myself to a mountain climber,” she said. “This will be Mount Everest for me.

“I believe I have practiced for this for years. And now I’m here, and I personally feel like I’ve got nothing to lose. Nobody expects anything from me. I expect to play well, and whatever happens, happens.”