Sat, May 31, 2003 page20

• Happy Annika says she's back where she belongs

  • AP
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  Annika Sorenstam's tee time was still 15 minutes away and the crowd had already reached Tiger-esque proportions.

  About 500 people, standing eight to 10 deep. Men, women and children. Fans and neophytes alike, many sporting the "Go Annika" buttons that are the latest rage in golf fashion.

  Even her playing partners broke into applause when she walked onto the first tee for a pro-am at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic on Thursday.

  "We were so proud of you last week," said Marianne Durham, one of her playing partners and a golf coach at a local girls' high school.

  "I'll say," someone in the crowd murmured.

  A week after her historic PGA Tour debut at the Colonial, Sorenstam is hoping life will gradually return to normal now that she's back on the LPGA Tour. If the pro-am was any indication, things will never quite be the same.

  "I went to Starbucks this morning and everybody recognized me there," she said, smiling. "It hasn't really sunk in yet, and we'll see what comes out of this. But if I touched any little girl, any woman who felt like it opened doors for someone, that's great."

  Judging by the scene at Stonebridge Country Club, Sorenstam touched more people than she'll ever realize. Though she missed the cut at the Colonial, the frenzy that surrounded her last week shows no signs of slowing down.

  While last year's pro-am drew only a couple of hundred people -- most of whom were there because they knew one of the players -- the event Thursday almost had the feel of a final round. Fans clustered around the putting green and driving range just to catch a glimpse of her.

  People carried Colonial flags for her to autograph, and the hottest items being sold were US$3 buttons: "Go Annika" in Day-Glo yellow or "Annika-Mania Catch It!" in baby blue.

  The gallery -- Annika's Army, perhaps? -- followed her like groupies, all but ignoring everyone else on the course, and security officers tailed her all afternoon. Though Sorenstam made plans to sign autographs after her practice round, fans repeatedly swarmed her for pictures as she moved from hole to hole.

  "She has the charisma," said Judy Smith of Chicago, who traveled to the Colonial last week and then cut her trip short to come back and see Sorenstam defend her title at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic.

  And the adulation is reaching rock star level. Sorenstam was riding on the back of a cart as she made her way to the third hole when a woman reached out to brush her arm.

  "I just had to touch you," she told Sorenstam.

  Her gallery was still several hundred strong when Sorenstam started the 18th hole. Another hundred or so waited at the green. She got a loud round of applause as she approached the green, and acknowledged it with a smile and wave.

  When she finished the round, she patiently worked her way up the rope line, signing balls, hats, pictures -- pretty much everything placed within her reach. Even when fans blocked her way to the clubhouse, despite officials' pleas to move along, Sorenstam kept signing.

  "I don't see a downside at all. It's very positive," Sorenstam said. "You know, when you play a game and people respect what you do and recognize that, it's flattering. It's very nice when they compliment you, what I've done and what I've achieved."

  But her foray to the men's tour was a one-time thing, Sorenstam said again. She agrees with those who say her game would improve if she played more events on the PGA Tour, saying she thinks she could be in the top 100 on the money list if she played 30 events a year.

  But she has no interest in being just another good golfer. She wants to be the best, to dominate, and the LPGA Tour is the right place for her to do it.

  "I didn't go there to prove anything," she said. "This is where I play. This is where I belong. I want to win tournaments and have a good experience and the experience I got last week is sure going to help me do that on this tour.

  "I've had a few days to reflect on the whole week and the more I think about it, the more I smile," she added. "It was incredible. I'm so glad I did it. The memories, the experience, the people, the fans -- you name it. I almost get goose bumps sitting here talking about it, because it was so cool. But I'm happy to be here, and it's time to move on."

  Meanwhile, the Royal & Ancient golf club in Scotland is changing its structure in a move which could create a larger role for women.

  The R&A, which governs the game everywhere but the US and Mexico, is separating its private members' club from its commercial and rule-making role.

  The 2,500-member private club in St. Andrews will retain its all-male membership, R&A secretary Peter Dawson said on Thursday.

  Founded in 1754, the club has never had a female member.

  Dawson will continue to oversee the club, and the commerical and governing arms -- and a new charitable foundation.

  He said he did not foresee the private club accepting female members, but the new structure could allow women access to the governing body and commercial side.

  Vivien Saunders, a former British Open women's champion who had threatened to sue the R&A over its all male membership, welcomed the reorganization.

  Saunders has openly questioned the right of the R&A -- a private club -- to impose its rules on nonmembers.

  "I think it's a good thing because the governing body will now have to modernize and except women," she said in a telephone interview.

  Dawson said "good business practices and the need for a corporate structure" made the changes necessary. He said the private club was unlikey to change.
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