Teske conquers course, Sorenstam

PHOENIX -- So is Rachel Teske (formerly known as Rachel Hetherington) the ultimate Sorenstam slayer, or did Annika Sorenstam cause her own downfall Sunday at the PING Banner Health?

A case could easily be made for Teske having Sorenstam's number, but this might just be an example of Sorenstam proving that she bleeds red after all.

Who would have thunk ... that Sorenstam couldn't hold a four-shot lead heading into the final round ... that she would start with a double bogey on the first hole ... that with all her recent success, the Swede would post a final-round 76 ... that she would bogey the final two holes to let Teske sneak in the back door ... or that Sorenstam, who had captured the first two events of the season in playoffs, would lose Sunday in sudden death?

THE SHAG BAG Hopefully Nancy Lopez's announcement last Wednesday that this will be her final full season on the LPGA Tour will get some players off my back. Last year I wrote a column saying that Lopez should retire. In a touching tribute, which brought the 45-year-old Lopez to tears, about 40 players attended her press conference to show their support and thank her for what she has done for the game. .... Several players -- Heather Daly-Donofrio and Nancy Harvey , to name two -- were hanging out at Ammaccapane's, the bar and restaurant owned by Danielle , Wednesday night when Fox's Celebrity Boxing came on. While most of them thought the whole thing was a joke, they seemed to like my suggestion of Dottie Pepper against Helen Alfredsson in a Solheim Cup preview. ... It may be some time before Pepper can get into the ring. The fiery one is expected to miss the next 8-12 weeks after shoulder surgery. ... By the way, Ammaccapane's sponsored the 17th hole for the tournament. When was the last time a player paid to sponsor a tournament in which she was playing? ... Terry-Jo Myers was awarded the prestigious Samaritan Award Thursday night for her work with the Interstitial Cystitis Association. Myers joins previous winners including Amy Alcott , Patty Sheehan , Pat Bradley and Lopez. ... On Monday afternoon, Dawn Coe-Jones and Kim Saiki were practicing away on the putting green when they looked up and saw that a fan had snuck between the ropes and was only a few feet away. The two looked at each other, wondering what to do. "I'm not going to say anything to him," both said to each other. Coe-Jones said later: "We are supposed to be thinking Fans First, so who was I to tell him he couldn't be on the putting green?" But on Saturday, one fan tried to push the tour's new slogan to the limit. A man was gathering practice balls from the putting green and stuffing them into his pocket when Marianne Morris politely told him that they weren't free souvenirs.

"I threw it away," said Sorenstam, who recorded only one birdie on the day. "Rachel played steady. She was there at the right time. But I normally don't finish bogey-bogey. I normally don't shoot 76 on Sundays. I don't make double bogeys."

On the first hole, Sorenstam gave all of her chasers a glimmer of hope after she found trouble off the tee, chipped out, then proceeded to three-putt for a uncharacteristic 6. She would continue to struggle with her putter, which ultimately resulted in a three-putt bogey on 17 and a missed 8-footer for par on the final hole of regulation.

"Just reading the scorecard makes me so depressed," Sorenstam said. "I mean, it's just no fun."

What's fun for Sorenstam is winning, especially in playoffs. Before Sunday, she had won her last seven appearances going to extra holes. As she rode in the cart to No. 18 at Moon Valley, she carried an impressive 11-3 playoff record in LPGA events. If Vegas were to post odds, she would have been a clear-cut favorite. But don't tell that to Teske.

"When we're out on the golf course, you don't think of what she's achieved and what she's done or what kind of player she is," Teske said. "You have respect for what she's done. But at the same time, we're out there trying to win as well and trying to achieve success. I feel like I have just as much chance to win as she does."

Part of Teske's optimism may come from the fact that she has a storied history against the tour's No. 1 player. In the 1998 First Union Betsy King Classic, Teske bested Sorenstam in a playoff for her first career LPGA victory. In 2000 the two squared off again at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic, with Sorenstam winning on the second extra hole. Interestingly, on Sunday Teske thought more about her taste of defeat in that second showdown rather than the cherished memories of their first encounter.

"That loss really hurt," said Teske, who is now 3-1 in playoffs. "I was thinking about the loss and wanted to make sure that I didn't have the same results again."

The win was the fifth of Teske's career and may well propel her into the upper echelon of the LPGA Tour. But more important, it may show the rest of the tour that Sorenstam isn't some superhero with unbeatable powers.

"Lately, Annika has been pretty unstoppable, but maybe this should show everyone that she can be taken down," Teske said.

Solheim dream

Moon Valley added some teeth this year, narrowing the fairways, growing the rough and firming up the greens -- but not because Sorenstam shot 59 there last season. The reason for the changes is that the Solheim family wants to impress the tour and possibly host the 2005 Solheim Cup.

"My father [ Karsten ] had a dream to make this one of the best courses in the world and bring some of the top events here," said John Solheim , CEO and president of PING. "So I would love for Moon Valley to host a Solheim Cup, but at the same time I always want what's best for the event and the ladies' tour."

While Solheim is basically the sponsor of the Solheim Cup, he doesn't choose the host club. He does have veto power, but he can't present a club as a possible choice.

If he had his druthers, Solheim would bring to the Cup to Cypress Point. But the Monterey Peninsula club most likely would not be willing to lift its all-male restriction for the event.

"That is my favorite course in the world and I think one of the greatest," Solheim said. "And our goal is to showcase women's golf on some of the greatest courses, so it would be thrill to have at Cypress."

Solheim admitted that Sorenstam's 59 garnered mixed reaction from Moon Valley members. While it put the course on the map, many wondered if it played too easily.

"Sure, the 59 bugged me," Solheim said. "Moon Valley is not that easy of a course. At the same time, she shot an incredible round and showed what a great player she is."

Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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