MPGA

Singh Joins Dissonant Chorus on Sorenstam (LENA WILLIAMS, May 13, 2003, NY Times)

Vijay Singh is the latest PGA Tour member to express disapproval over Annika Sorenstam's plans to play against men in next week's Colonial tournament.

Singh, the winner of the 1998 P.G.A. Championship and the 2000 Masters, threatened to withdraw from the Colonial yesterday if he were paired with Sorenstam.

"I hope she misses the cut," Singh was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. "Why? Because she doesn't belong out here. If I'm drawn with her, which I won't be, I won't play.

"What is she going to prove by playing? It's ridiculous." [...]

Nick Price, the defending champion at the Colonial, suggested recently that Sorenstam should have declined the invitation to compete and said her decision "reeks of publicity."

Scott Hoch, a member of the 2002 United States Ryder Cup team, was quoted as saying that he wanted Sorenstam to play well in the tournament but only to prove a point: If she plays well and still finishes back in the pack, Hoch said, it will demonstrate "how much separation there is between us and the ladies' tour."

Even Tiger Woods, the No. 1 golfer in the world, who considers the 32-year-old Sorenstam a friend, has questioned the wisdom of her decision to play. Woods said in February, after Sorenstam made her announcement, that Sorenstam could damage women's golf if she did not play well.

Singh, a 40-year-old native of Fiji, is mild-mannered and normally low-key. In the early 1990's, when some in golf tried to use the dark-skinned, broad-shouldered Singh to temper the sport's segregated, country club image, he simply let his golf do the talking. Yet Singh, who is ranked No. 7 in the world, held nothing back in an interview with The A.P. as he left the locker room at Quail Hollow on Sunday after the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C. "She's the best woman golfer in the world, and I want to emphasize 'woman,' " Singh said of Sorenstam. "We have our tour for men, and they have their tour."

There are no more conservative athletes in the world than golfers, even if you include NASCAR drivers. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 13, 2003 8:49 PM