As the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour prepares for its third major championship of the season, the U.S. Women's Open, the main storyline is whether Annika Sorenstam, the best female golfer, can continue her torrid winning pace. The 31-year-old Swedish phenomenon has won six of the 12 events she has played this season; meaning, Sorenstam has a better winning percentage than some baseball teams.
So is Sorenstam not only the best female golfer-this seems a given-but also the best golfer, period?
Earlier this year, golf columnist Lorne Rubenstein of The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, wrote an article titled "Sorenstam stands above rest of the pack." The story followed up on her victory at the LPGA Tour's first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Rubenstein's basic argument was that Sorenstam is simply "the best player on the current scene."
I disagreed. So I e-mailed him, pointing out that the LPGA Tour lacks the depth of the PGA Tour and Woods has more quality players to beat than Sorenstam does. But Mr. Rubenstein replied "a player can only beat those he or she has to beat."
Fair enough but, for the record, I still disagree.
In light of Woods' two consecutive major championships in which he wasn't really pushed to the limit by others, it may be foolish to go on about the alleged depth of the competition Tiger faces. Then again, there have been nine first-time winners on the men's tour so far in 2002, compared to just two on the women's side.
The formidable trio of Sorenstam-Pak-Karrie Webb (16 wins combined in 36 events last season, and nine of 15 in 2002) IS the LPGA Tour. After them, there is a considerable drop on the talent level. On the PGA Tour, despite some top players' inability to give Woods run for his money at majors, the depth has hardly been more impressive.
Having said all these, I realize it is irrelevant and impossible to compare two different golf tours and two different players playing under different conditions. Let's just say that, in the last two seasons, Sorenstam has been just as dominant on the LPGA Tour as Woods has been on his tour.
