LPGA While Wie gets hype, Sorenstam gets wins
The tour's best player has been overshadowed by the "Next Big Thing."
PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) -- Annika Sorenstam must be wondering what she has to do to get noticed.
All she did at the Samsung World Championship was remind anyone watching why she rules her world. Despite a double bogey on the last hole, she won by eight shots. And her eighth victory of the season -- no one else has won more than twice -- ensured Sorenstam will be the LPGA Tour player of the year for a record eighth time.
But she will have to settle for the hardware, not the hype.
Because even after one of her most dominant victories of the year, Sorenstam was a forgotten figure before the champagne was chilled.
The buzz at Bighorn was -- and still is -- about Michelle Wie.
Sorenstam walked quietly into the desert night with her 64th career victory.
Wie was surrounded by her parents, sponsors, family friends, security and tournament officials who ushered her past a dozen photographers into a golf cart after getting disqualified for taking a bad drop.
Sorenstam can understand getting ignored because of Tiger Woods, simply because people pay more attention to the PGA Tour and Woods has become the most famous athlete in the world.
Star power
The star power in women's golf now belongs to a teenager whose legend is built around power, potential and big dreams, with a marketing appeal that required a signature on two endorsement contracts to become the highest-paid woman in golf.
With the crystal trophy at her side, Sorenstam dropped subtle hints Sunday evening that winning the Samsung World Championship was important "for many reasons," not the least of which was upstaging Wie. The 35-year-old Swede is comfortable with who she is and what she has done.
But every superstar has an ego, and Sorenstam is no different.
"I'm very competitive," she said. "I want to play well when everyone is talking about someone else."
Sorenstam is used to hearing her name mentioned when people talk about golf stardom, especially during her incomparable success over the last five years -- seven majors, 41 victories, nearly $12 million in earnings. And perhaps the most impressive statistic of all is finishing in the top three 63 percent of the time.
It's not always about her, of course.
"Tiger is the only one I can think of," Sorenstam said when asked the last time she wasn't part of the conversation. "Maybe because this is the LPGA, it seems like it's been more about Michelle than Tiger."
Wie brings notoriety, no matter what she does or where she goes.
People want to watch her.
The crowds at Bighorn typically are sparse because of the searing desert heat and a hilly course designed for golf carts, yet Wie had the largest galleries throughout the week.
She was on the cover of Fortune magazine. More than 225 media credentials were issued, so many that tournament officials had to expand the press tent. The room was packed whenever she was in there, especially late Sunday evening when she pulled off her most impressive feat at Bighorn -- standing firm about her drop while showing respect for the rule that got her disqualified.
What she gained from her loss was even more exposure.
And that pushed Sorenstam further into the background.
About the only people who truly appreciate Sorenstam are her peers.