Question:
Annika achieved something NO man or woman has ever achieved, she lead the money list on TWO different tours in the SAME year!! Where was the Sports Ilustrated cover on her?
Sorry to disappoint you but Annika was not the first. The one you all love to hate has also won on two tours in the one year. Greg Norman won the US & the Australian money lists in 1986. Not a bad effort for a choker. Mark Blake "remove ‘zap’ to obtain my real email address !!"
Response:
Annika achieved something NO man or woman has ever achieved, she lead the money list on TWO different tours in the SAME year!! Where was the Sports Ilustrated cover on her? Sorry to disappoint you but Annika was not the first. The one you all love to hate has also won on two tours in the one year. Greg Norman won the US & the Australian money lists in 1986. Not a bad effort for a choker. Mark Blake
O.k Mark I’ll see your TWO and raise you ONE. In 1995 Annika also lead the Australian money list by virtue of winning the Masters and coming second (in a playoff) in the Open. This makes THREE tour leads in the one year. (OK I know there were only two events for the Aus. list). PS The statistic referred to above is usually stated as the only golfer to have won the US and European tours in the same year. Cheers Nick Csiro Australia
Response:
Rob, I understand what you are saying and agree with most of it. I am a HUGE fan of Annika as well as Tiger and feel that both are great at what they do. Annika had been around longer than Tiger so she has had more opportunites to prove herself. I feel Tiger will do the same and think winning the masters right out of the box is a pretty good start! As far as him winning on courses that are "set up" for him, I think that is a little absurd. Yes, his length is a big factor, but if we were to carry your analogy to other sports, you could nullify all of the greats. Take Michael jordan, he’s really not a great player because he can jump so high. With the "low" basket height of 10′, NBA courts "set up" to his game in an unfair way. Larry Bird wasnt great because he could shoot 3 pointers so well. The seemingly easy 3 point line "set up" to his game in an unfair way. Finally, take Ben Crenshaw. He won two masters on the merit of his superhuman like putting. You could say Augusta’s greens set up to his game. The point is, is that the truly great players WILL have a seemingly unfair advantage in ANY sport. So it IS true that whatever the arena these atheletes play in, it WILL set up to their talents. That’s how why they’re great! Believe the hype Russ
Response:
<< << When Annika is prepared to play against Tiger week after week for the same prize, then the "double standard" will vanish. Appearently you haven’t heard of Laura Davies. Annika Sorenstam is NOT a long hitter. Laura Davies is longer than a lot of men on the PGA! There is a very real comparison there. At her latest victory, 12 Bridges, Annika played alot of the time against Julie Inkster whose driving average is a mere 2yrds less than the very long hitting Davies. If you look at the victories of Annika vs.Tiger this year (or last lear for that matter), you will see a big diference. Annika won the Tournament of Champions. Tiger won early, with most of the field of less than stellar quality. He won the Masters which is not only an over-hyped(TPC at Swagrass should be a major, not the Masters which is just a final kiss to Bobby Jones’ ass, ala the Tradition to Jack Nicklaus) event but set up perfectly for long hitters that can put(that describes Tiger to a tee). Annika achieved something NO man or woman has ever achieved, she lead the money list on TWO different tours in the SAME year!! Where was the Sports Ilustrated cover on her? Tiger will probably win two million in prize money and everyone will proclaim him the best, Annika will probably break a million and very few will notice, that is sad. Annika has not only won the same major two years in a row, but its the hardest of the majors (U.S.Open). If Tiger can win the Open in the same dominating fashion that Annika did last year, then he deserves to be included in her class of golfers. Until then, when Tiger wins with less than top quality fields 3 of his 4 PGA victories, or on courses that set up for his style (the Masters) I will not be impressed. As the rapper Chuck D. said, "Don’t believe the hype" Rob
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – << << When Annika is prepared to play against Tiger week after week for the same prize, then the "double standard" will vanish. Appearently you haven’t heard of Laura Davies. Annika Sorenstam is NOT a long hitter. Laura Davies is longer than a lot of men on the PGA! There is a very real comparison there. At her latest victory, 12 Bridges, Annika played alot of the time against Julie Inkster whose driving average is a mere 2yrds less than the very long hitting Davies. If you look at the victories of Annika vs.Tiger this year (or last lear for that matter), you will see a big diference. Annika won the Tournament of Champions. Tiger won early, with most of the field of less than stellar quality. He won the Masters which is not only an over-hyped(TPC at Swagrass should be a major, not the Masters which is just a final kiss to Bobby Jones’ ass, ala the Tradition to Jack Nicklaus) event but set up perfectly for long hitters that can put(that describes Tiger to a tee). Annika achieved something NO man or woman has ever achieved, she lead the money list on TWO different tours in the SAME year!! Where was the Sports Ilustrated cover on her? Tiger will probably win two million in prize money and everyone will proclaim him the best, Annika will probably break a million and very few will notice, that is sad. Annika has not only won the same major two years in a row, but its the hardest of the majors (U.S.Open). If Tiger can win the Open in the same dominating fashion that Annika did last year, then he deserves to be included in her class of golfers. Until then, when Tiger wins with less
than top quality fields 3 of his 4 PGA victories, or on courses that set up for his style (the Masters) I will not be impressed. Rob
First of all let me say that I am a very big fan of Annika S. and women’s golf as a whole. It is a crying shame that womens golf is not on an equal footing with mens golf in the ways that have been stated before. However Rob, I think that you are comparing apples to oranges when comparing the two tours’ players in this way. First of all Tiger Woods is younger than Annika and has had a shorter career on tour. If you were to compare their accomplishments at the same age you would find a considerable advantage to Tiger. In fact, no one has accomplished more than Tiger Woods at 21 years of age in golf. A lot of pros on the tours consider the USGA amateur championships as equal to majors in stature, and look at what Tiger has done there. The man is obviously an incredible talent. So is Annika, Laura Davies, Juli Inkster, and a lot of others. I also must disagree with your statements about Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Augusta National and the Masters. I would be willing to bet that most pro golfers and a huge number of others including myself feel that golf’s long history and traditions really make the sport special. As for Augusta, the course has made mince meat out of many of the best golfers in the world for as long as I can remember, whether they were long hitters or not. If you look at past champions, many were some of the tours shortest hitters. How about Larry Mize, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, and Ben Crenshaw (short and inaccurate sometimes) to name a few. These champions played their butts off to win, but they often came back another year and missed the cut (ie Faldo this year). What it boils down to is during a given tournament, whoever has the ability to put it all together and execute the best is going to win. Some have this ability more than others. This means that on a given day, most any player on the tours can rise from the pack and win if they put it all together. What I believe should be compared between Tiger and Annika is their mental toughness. This commonality between them is what more so than anything helps them win the big ones. I say hurray for Tiger, Annika,and all other great champions of the two tours. But what is the real point of comparing the two? How about any other thoughts on this subject? Tim L.