In early May, women's golf sensation Annika Sorrenstam played in her first PGA tournament in Fort Worth, Texas. Her appearance generated worldwide media coverage. Why? Because the Professional Golf Association is the men's tour, and Annika is a woman.
Annika, originally from Sweden, is the number one woman golfer in the world, and for the past two seasons she has dominated the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour. It was the first appearance by a woman in the men's tour event in 58 years. In 1945, "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias played in several men's events. Babe was an incredible woman athlete who won Olympic gold medals in track and field; she also dominated the women's golf tour in her era and is one of the charter members of the LPGA Hall of Fame.
At the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, over 600 media credentials were issued for the Bank of America Colonial Tournament, a week that normally sees less than 100. Sorrenstam chose Colonial because it is a golf course that demands precise shots rather than great length. Playing a course like Colonial eliminated some of the strength advantage the men have over women, but it is still very long by LPGA standards. Off the tee, Annika's drives average 250-275 yards. Most of the men with the modern equipment are now over 300 yards.
The publicity surrounding her appearance in Fort Worth was enormous before, during, and after. Most of the pre-event hype centered on the question if she would make the cut, which would have allowed her to play all four rounds of the event. She played well, shooting scores of 71 and 74, but it was not enough to advance. In hindsight, it may have been better because having her in the weekend rounds would have overshadowed Kenny Perry's record performance in winning the event.
Annika was disappointed to miss the cut, but she held her head high and handled herself and the media impeccably. She was very humble, said all the right things at the right times, and conducted herself as a consummate professional. All women in all sports should have been proud. A few of the PGA players expressed their dislike of her being in the event, but overall, the people of Fort Worth and millions of sports fans embraced her and cheered her on. "Go Annika" buttons sold out in the Colonial Pro Shop very quickly. A week later, she returned to the LPGA Tour and won its event by three shots.
So, what did she prove? Aside from proving to herself that she can be competitive with the men, which was her goal, she proved women in sports can be as entertaining as the men. The only reason women's sports does not get equal coverage is because media coverage is mostly controlled by men, especially at the major television networks and major newspapers and magazines. It's slowly getting better, but very slowly.
Women's tennis is probably the best example of what can happen. After Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in that prime time televised match in 1973, women's tennis coverage improved rapidly, and today, it is considered by many as better and more entertaining than the men's game.
Could that happen in other sports? Maybe. Annika's brave appearance, which was even criticized initially by some women, turned out to be great for women's golf. In time, it may serve as the catalyst for much more media coverage of the women's golf tour and perhaps other sports as well. Women's sports in college and high school are also on the rise, and that could also eventually boost the professional level.
Personally, I'd love to see a few of the professional women bowlers compete in a few men's tour events. There have been a few exhibition matches, such as the challenge of the sexes matches held in conjunction with mixed doubles events like the former Merit Doubles. If I recall, those were short contests, and the men won. Walter Ray beat Wendy Macpherson a couple of times, and Norm Duke defeated Tish Johnson another time. They didn't generate much publicity because they were non-televised exhibitions.
In 1964, Sylvia Wene struck a blow for women's bowling when she defeated Dick Weber in a one-game match held aboard a 707 airplane as it traveled from New York City to the 1964 All Star Tournament in Dallas. Again, it was non-televised-a short-lived publicity stunt.
What I'd like to see is a well-publicized appearance by one of two top women pros in an official men's tour event, complete with strong pre-event publicity and television coverage. It wouldn't be as big as Annika's adventure because men's bowling coverage is not equal to men's golf, but if done right, it could be good for both tours.
Several years ago, Anne Marie Duggan attempted to enter a PBA event, but it was not allowed by PBA management. Now PBA has new management, and it appears to be more media savvy. This might be a good time to test the water again. Several women have done pretty well in the ABC Masters event, but there was no real effort to generate substantial media coverage.
It would behoove the PBA to promote a women's appearance on the men's bowling tour for the same reason it benefited the PGA-it would generate substantially more media coverage for the event sponsors. The Fort Worth event turned into an unexpected gold mine for Colonial sponsor Bank of America. Getting sponsors for events has always been difficult for the PBA and PWBA, and keeping them is an even greater challenge. By adding this interesting aspect, those tasks would be a little easier.
If the event was done as an invitational, perhaps the PBA and its host/sponsor could invite the top two or three players from the PWBA Tour. This year, that would be Leanne Barrette, Michelle Feldman, and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard. On certain conditions, all three could be competitive. Barrette, also know as "Boomer," can hook the ball as much as almost any man, and her unique talent on the women's tour is that she can get the ball far down the lane and bring it to the pocket at a sharp angle to optimize carry.
Feldman also is a power player and would do well on a condition that required the ball to hook. She lacks the maturity of Barrette or Dorin-Ballard, but she could do well. Dorin-Ballard's best game is on a condition that requires accuracy, but she can hook it if she needs to, especially with the new equipment, and she's a fighter. She has the best mental game on the women's tour. It just so happens that all three of these women are on the same pro staff-Ebonite-and I'll bet that company's marketing genius, Bob Reid, is already thinking up more ways than this to help his women staffers. Knowing what happened with Annika, maybe even ESPN might be willing to promote the event as a partner.
Will we ever see women competing on the men's tour? I think it's inevitable after the Annika success, and it makes a lot of sense to make it happen while the memory is still fresh. Of course, with recent developments, the men may have the only bowling tour, but that's another column, and we're keeping our fingers crossed everything will work out all right for the PWBA so fans can continue to see these very talented women players.