Columnist Peter Benton: Inviting Sorenstam is a big mistake

Peter Benton

Wednesday, May 7, 2003 | 9:19 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

Professional golf is a distinguished business with a very proud, traditional and dignified history. Pro golf is also an activity where, unlike the amateur game, the sexes should not compete together. Unless of course it is a mixed team tournament or the like of the Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge.

I am throwing in my two cents' worth here as I honestly think that the PGA Tour is in danger of allowing some of its events to degenerate into a circus where the promoters, along with the marketers, are overriding common sense.

Yes, you guessed it. I am alluding to female golfers Suzy Whaley and Annika Sorenstam, who have both committed to play in sanctioned PGA Tour events.

Whaley, as was her right, teed it up in a regional qualifying event for the Tour's Greater Hartford Open July 21-27.

By shooting the lowest score, she gained her entry into the GHO. However, she played from the women's tees. My question is this: With so much riding on this qualifying event, where so many club professionals were vying for their opportunity to play with "the big boys," why was it not mandated that Whaley play from the same teeing area as the men?

She will have to play from the same tees as the rest of the field during the Greater Hartford Open, so in reality, she won her place in this tournament under false pretenses.

Now along comes the very personable Sorenstam, undoubtedly the most dominant woman player in the world today. She has accepted a sponsor's exemption into the Bank of America Colonial May 19-25.

Like all other competitors in the field, this sweet-swinging Swede will have to put two particularly good rounds together to qualify for the final two days of play -- but I doubt very much that she will be able to accomplish that feat.

During our recent LPGA Takefuji Classic at the Las Vegas Country Club, she played well but failed to win on a course that played at 6,494 yards ... well short of the 7,080 yards she'll find at the Colonial layout.

As anyone who has attempted golf well knows, it is an incredibly difficult sport. To play it for a living is even more difficult, with more golfers unfortunately failing than those succeeding. Those players at the bottom of the barrel literally devour any start they can get in an effort to not only make a few necessary dollars, but perhaps finish high enough to qualify for the next event.

With women taking some of these vital spots away from PGA Tour hopefuls -- admittedly only two at this point -- it scares me as to what could take place next.

Women have their own tour and the men theirs, so why can we not leave it at that? You know the LPGA would not permit a PGA player to compete on their turf, and rightfully so.

One of golf's greatest assets is its dignity, but permitting women into men's professional events is seriously undermining that assett.