The Colonial - 2nd round

[DTL]

Just another day in golf.

Oh, and Annika is playing off at 1:43 p.m. She finished the first round 1 over par, 7 shots behind the leader, Rory Sabbatini (who?).

Some tidbits from Sorenstam's first round: (link)

FORT WORTH, Texas -- With the exception of a tie for third in the BellSouth Classic, Jay Williamson hasn't gotten a lot out of his season thus far.

But after an opening-round 67 Thursday in the Bank of America Colonial, Williamson is just two shots off the lead and four strokes in front in LPGA star Annika Sorenstam, the first woman to play on the PGA Tour in 58 years.

The statistics for Williamson and Sorenstam are very similar, with Sorenstam even beating the 36-year-old journeyman in driving distance (269 yards to 261.5).

The two were close in fairways hit (13 for Sorenstam, 12 for Williamson) and both hit 14 of 18 greens. Sorenstam, by the way, tied for No. 1 Thursday in fairways hit.

So where does the difference in scoring come from? It's the putting.

Sorenstam had a terrible day on the greens, needing 33 putts and ranking T106th out of 113 players in the field. She also averaged 2.071 putts per green in regulation, 109th overall.

Williamson needed 29 putts, four better than Sorenstam, but still only tied for T51st in the field. His putts per GIR stat, though, was very nice, 1.571. That put him 10th overall.

Many people felt Sorenstam's putting would be a bigger hindrance this week than any problem she might have with distance. Even on the LPGA Tour she ranks just tied for 64th in putts per round, with 29.89.

Dean Wilson, one of Sorenstam's playing companions Thursday, said he thinks she can still make the cut.

"There's absolutely no reason why she can't," Wilson said. "I think she is such a good player. If she just had a few more putts drop in today, if that would have happened, she would be under par easy."

TRAILING SORENSTAM: Bad putting aside, Sorenstam managed to beat 27 of the guys, including a trio of major champions.

Her 1-over total was one stroke better than both Steve Elkington and Mark Brooks, two former winners of the PGA Championship, and two better than former British Open champ Tom Lehman.

She also beat such Tour winners as Stuart Appleby (2-over), Ian Leggatt (3-over), Bob Estes (3-over), Craig Perks (3-over) and Scott McCarron (4-over).

Kevin Sutherland, the 2002 Accenture Match Play champion, was five shots worse than Sorenstam, even though he needed two fewer putts.

World No. 12 Sergio Garcia also came up one shot short of Sorenstam's total.

[Dooby]

Unfortunately, this afternoon Colonial will be a tougher golf course than it was yesterday morning-more wind, dryer conditions.

[DTL]

1 birdie and 4 bogeys for Annika through 10 holes so far today.

[Usually Lurkin]

well, she missed the cut, and the greatest woman in golf beat only 11 guys on the course that's tailor made to her game. Can we safely say that it's time for the PGA to devote some time to Get Rid Of Slimy girlS (G.R.O.S.S.)?

or do we delare the circus over and make way for some real golfers:
Suzy Whaley

Michelle Wie
Michelle Wie2