GIANT EAGLE LPGA CLASSIC Thomas: Sorenstam plans to enter field

However, the LPGA's top golfer has yet to sign the commitment sheet.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
VIENNA -- Giant Eagle LPGA Classic officials say LPGA star Annika Sorenstam is scheduled to play in this year's event that runs June 9-15 at Squaw Creek Country Club.
Eddie Thomas, tournament executive director, said Tuesday that sources close to Sorenstam have indicated that she will participate in the tournament.
But the LPGA has noted that Sorenstam has not yet signed the commitment sheet that all players are required to do before entering a tournament.
The LPGA also indicated that she has until the Wednesday before the tournament (June 11) to sign up and compete.
Calls to her agent, Mark Steinberg, resulted in the response that she had not yet committed to play, but the possibility was still there, according to Steinberg.
One other appearance
Sorenstam has only played in the Giant Eagle Classic once, in 1998, when the event was played at Avalon Lakes. In that tournament, she finished tied for ninth place and won $17,060.
Sorenstam's list of accomplishments as an LPGA Tour member is impressive.
Since turning professional in 1994, the 32-year-old has won five Rolex Player of the Year awards and five Vare Trophies. Her last was in 2002 when she won 11 tournaments and nearly $3 million in earnings. It was the second-straight year she had more than $2 million in tour earnings. She has led the money list five times in her career.
She has 43 career victories and has qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame. She did that in 2000, but must wait until the end of this season to fulfill the 10-year requirement.
She is the only player in LPGA history to shoot a 59 in tournament play and she did that in 2001 during the second round of the Standard Register Ping Tournament.
Three weeks before the Giant Eagle Classic, Sorenstam will take part in the Bank of America Colonial PGA event. It will be the first time a women has participated in a PGA event since Babe Zaharias in 1945.
Should Sorenstam participate in the Giant Eagle event, she will be entered along with Suzy Whaley, who is playing in the tournament on a sponsor's exemption.
Whaley won the Connecticut Section PGA Tournament last year, earning her an automatic bid in the PGA Tour's Greater Hartford Open, three weeks after the Giant Eagle Tournament.
"Annika's participation will enhance what is already a quality event on tap for 2003," Thomas said. "We look forward to having her in the field."
mollica@vindy.com