Sorenstam starts farewell tour with a 67, share of lead

Two days after announcing this would be her final season on the LPGA Tour, Annika Sorenstam shot a 5-under 67 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead in the Sybase Classic in Clifton, N.J. Two-time defending champion Lorena Ochoa was a stroke back.

The 37-year-old Hall of Famer came into the $2 million tournament off a dominating seven-stroke victory in the Michelob Ultra Open last weekend, and she was just as good getting around the Upper Montclair Country Club course in the shadow of New York City. The Swede had five birdies in a bogey-free round.

Song-He Kim, a second-year player from South Korea who has two top-10 finishes this year, also was at 67, along with Australia’s Rachel Hetherington, who has missed three of eight cuts and finished no better than a tie for 24th this year.

Ogilvy to play Colonial

Geoff Ogilvy, the No. 6 player in the world golf rankings, committed Thursday to play in next week’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

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Golf tournament to host $200,000 buy-in event in ‘09

LAS VEGAS: For the golfer who thinks a 15-foot putt with 10 grand on the line isn’t enough action, how’s $200,000 sound?

No, not the prize, just the fee to tee off.

The World Series of Golf next year in Las Vegas will cost $200,000 to enter and offer a $1.5 million payout for the winner.

Organizers think they can find 25 players willing to ante up the $200,000 entry fee. Five more players would technically get in for free — free meaning drawn randomly from a list of 125 players expected to play in the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Golf tournament a week earlier.

Players are not eligible if they have competed as a professional in two or more events on any professional tour, or earned more than $50,000 in their career in golf competitions. Members of any globally recognized professional golf associations, PGA of America members for example, also are barred.

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Bush Swings and Misses with Anti-Golf Plan

Growing economic woes and a looming recession have become the focal point of public concern. Yet, for thousands of young Americans and their families, another issue clocks in as the most important: the war in Iraq. This week the Iraqi city of Mosul has been under siege and while the faltering United States economy and 2008 election coverage dominate the media landscape, people continue to die, Iraq continues to burn and oh… George Bush has given up golf.

Yes, that’s right. According to a nauseatingly fawning online interview with Yahoo! News and Politico, the empathizer-in-chief lets us know he’s given up his backswing because he didn’t want the mothers of deceased soldiers to see him working on his game. The president noted, “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”

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Minor-League Golf Draws Celebrities as PGA Tour Event Withers

For Nationwide Tour golf pro David Hearn, the chance to win $121,500 and a BMW X5 this week in South Carolina is secondary to the opportunity to catch up with an old neighbor: Wayne Gretzky.

With celebrities like Gretzky and actors Joe Pesci and Luke Wilson competing alongside second-tier pros in the BMW Charity Pro-Am, the Nationwide Tour stop has become one of golf’s most popular events. In contrast, the AT&T Classic, which also started yesterday, has become little more than a blip for the top-flight U.S. PGA Tour and will need a new sponsor next year.

Hearn was raised five blocks away from the boyhood home of hockey’s all-time leading scorer in Brantford, Ontario, and Gretzky’s number, 99, is incorporated in the 28-year-old golfer’s e-mail address.

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Futures Tour feels Ochoas impact on womens golf

The success of one person, Se Ri Pak, prompted an explosion of competitors from South Korea in women’s pro golf. Lorena Ochoa isn’t likely to stimulate a rush of participation on quite the same scale in her home country of Mexico.

However, Ochoa definitely has had an impact, and that’s evident with the five players from Mexico who are competing in the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship at Leawood South Country Club.

The event, which begins today and runs through Sunday, is a stop on the Duramed Futures Tour. It is the official developmental circuit for the LPGA Tour. And one of its most famous alums is Ochoa, who won three times on the Futures tour in 2002 and has since become the No. 1 player for the LPGA.

Ochoa is from Guadalajara and has become one of Mexico’s biggest celebrities. There’s no question she has dramatically increased interest in golf there. But the dearth of golf courses in that nation — and the cost of playing on the ones available — means the sport is still out of reach, from a participation standpoint, to most of the population.

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Five tied for lead after rain-delayed first round

Kenny Perry sloshed through the water-logged fairways, ducking under an umbrella every chance he got.

He also hit plenty of good shots on a miserable day at the TPC Sugarloaf.

Coming off a final-round meltdown at The Players Championship, Perry endured a steady — and occasionally driving rain — to claim a share of the first-round lead with a 6-under 66 at the AT&T Classic on Thursday.

The other leaders — Jonathan Kaye, Ryan Palmer, Jonathan Byrd and Parker McLachlin — all teed off in the morning, before a huge weather system engulfed the suburban Atlanta course.

They were the lucky ones.

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Tiger Woods is ready, his coach says

Renowned golf instructor Hank Haney got a surprising wake-up call the other day. The voice on the other end belonged to his most renowned pupil, Tiger Woods, who is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Tiger dialing his number is hardly news. But the timing was.

“I don’t think he knew I was [at home] in Dallas,” said Haney, who was in town for a CBIZ Business Clubs of America event, as the featured speaker for some 300 Philadelphia business executives. “When the phone rang, I looked at the clock and it was 7. He usually works out in the morning. He doesn’t start practicing until 9 or 10. So he was out early. That’s a good sign.

“He said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘Sleeping.’ ”

Woods underwent surgery on April 15, two days after he finished second in the Masters. It’s the third time the knee has been scoped. The U.S. Open gets under way June 12, at a course - Torrey Pines, near San Diego - where he has won a jabillion times.

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The Shark suffers in the Atlanta wet

Greg Norman endured a tough day on a course he designed when he shot eight-over-par 80 in the US PGA Tour’s AT&T Classic in Atlanta.

Playing in the afternoon’s trying, rainy conditions and with son Gregory as caddie, 53-year-old Norman carded five bogeys and two double bogeys and had only five players behind him after the opening round at the TPC Sugarloaf.

It left him a distant 14 shots from five players, Americans Jonathan Kaye, Ryan Palmer, Jonathan Byrd, Parker McLachlin and Kenny Perry, tied in the lead after six-under 66s.

Norman is playing the event for the first time since 2004 and has a busier playing schedule than in recent years.

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Center of Gravity Golf & the Senior Golfer

Center of Gravity Golf is in Hawaii this season, performing open golf clinics and teaching private lessons for approximately 1000 golfers per week.

One of the things that stand out as I look over the audience is the average age of the participants. While there are significant numbers of baby boomers, new comers, and even a few youngsters in the mix, a large portion of the attendees are “Senior Golfers”.

Once you’ve reached the age of 50 you are considered a “senior golfer” but I’ve had private lessons with golfers as old as 91! Bottom line is, no matter what your age, you can still strive to improve your golfing experience and the proof is in the bookings. Senior golfers come to me generally after seeing one of my open clinics and explaining how Center of Gravity Golf can help them enjoy the game more by creating consistency in their game and learning how to get some of their lost distance back.

Let’s face it, all golfers want to be more consistent and hit the ball a little further, seniors are no different. There’s a great satisfaction in getting a golf ball airborne and watching it fly to its destination, the first thing I always address is getting the ball airborne at the proper trajectory, then we talk distance.

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