TWOSOME The whole world will be watching Annika Sörenstam tee it up against the big boys May 22 through 25 at the Bank of America Colonial, at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. Sörenstam, the LPGA’s number one player last year and winner of 42 titles in nine years on the tour, casually mentioned in the off-season that she would enjoy the challenge of playing a PGA tournament, and several PGA events issued her an invitation. She chose the Colonial, whose relatively short course by PGA standards (7,080 yards, compared with the LPGA’s average of 6,300) and numerous doglegs favor accuracy over power. But Sörenstam can pop a lengthy drive, averaging 280 yards—the PGA tour leaders in drive distance average 300 yards—and is noted for strong iron play, so she could add to the drama. The EDS Byron Nelson Championship, at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Las Colinas, in Irving, will have drama of its own: In its 36 years as a PGA event, there have been seventeen playoffs to decide the winner. The four-day tournament, which begins May 15, always draws a strong field as a tribute to Byron Nelson, the 91-year-old Roanoke resident whose record of eleven straight wins (and a total of eighteen) in 1945 still stands. Golf is never a good walk spoiled when you’re watching the pros play. (See Dallas: Sports; and (Fort Worth: Sports.)
