Test drive for Annika

Golf Digest, May, 2003 by Jaime Diaz

WHEN GOLF DIGEST ASKED LPGA PLAYERS to preview Annika Sorenstam's date with history at Colonial by playing a PGA Tour course the day after the final round--using the same tees and hole locations--it was no surprise that nearly all of them declined.

We asked young stars and veterans, tournament winners and major champions. Some players feared they would be perceived as muscling into Annika's spotlight. Others cited potential embarrassment if they scored poorly. One agent said, "I wouldn't let any of my players near that." Cristie Kerr saw it differently and agreed to play at Tucson National on Monday morning after the final round of the Chrysler Classic of Tucson won by Frank Lickliter. Kerr would play the identical setup that the PGA Tour field had faced on the 7,109-yard, par-72 resort course. (Colonial will play 7,080 yards, par 70.)

Kerr, 25, enjoyed a career-best season last year, including her first victory and eight top-10 finishes, but her average driving distance was 10 yards behind Sorenstam (265.6 to 255.9). Although Kerr had not yet played a competitive round in 2003, she arrived in Tucson after spending a week practicing (and shooting a one-under-par 71 from the tips on Doral's Blue Monster). On a balmy day with little wind, and with no gallery, Kerr admitted that she felt some butterflies. "Nothing like what Annika is going to feel," she said, "but yeah, I'm a little nervous." Still, from the elevated tee of the 410-yard first hole, she pasted her drive 270 yards, hit a crisp 7-iron from 142 yards to 20 feet, and made the putt for birdie. It would be her only birdie of the day, and her shortest birdie attempt. And that wasn't because Kerr played poorly. At Tucson she hit 13 of 14 fairways, all with drivers, consistently in the 250- to 265-yard range. PGA Tour players averaged 289.8 there.

Into the greens, Kerr needed anywhere from three to five clubs more than the men had during Sunday's final round. She used a 5-wood from 200 yards after her only weak drive of the round, and another 5-wood from the same distance on the 465-yard, uphill 18th. She hit another approach with a 7-wood and three second shots with 4-irons. On two of the four par 3s, she hit 3-irons.

The length of Tucson National wasn't as tough on Kerr as the tiny landing areas on the mostly elevated greens. She invariably faced a shot to a pin tucked in the extreme corner of the green, directly behind a bunker. PGA Tour players handle those shots with high, spinning irons that stop quickly. Kerr doesn't have that shot. She hit several solid iron shots, but other than the first hole, all of them released at least 20 feet after landing.

Kerr hit eight of 18 greens in regulation--the field averaged four more--and she usually faced putts from 30 to 50 feet. Overall, she putted well: Her 28 putts included two holed 20-footers and a tough 12-footer for a bogey.

After Kerr's even-par 36 on the front, straining for pars took its toll, but she completed a four-over-par 76 (even-par 144 made the 36-hole cut, 19 under won the tournament, and eight of 87 players shot 76 or higher on Sunday).

"Well, at least I beat the under," said Kerr, in reference to the "over/under" score of 76.5 that oddsmakers have established for Sorenstam's first round May 22 at Colonial.

"I didn't play my best," Kerr says. "I know I could have shot under par. I think Annika will."

Breaking 70 at Colonial? Annika needs to hit it closer than Kerr did--or make more than her share of putts.