Victoria Day weekend might be the traditional time for gardeners to plant the flowers in many parts of the country, but it always comes with a frost warning. This time of year in Southern Ontario, an early tee time is always a dicey proposition as well.
Low and behold there was a frost delay at the immaculate Magna Golf Club in Aurora early Tuesday for the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. Don't dare step on the fairways at Magna under those conditions. I don't think there's a blade of grass leaning the wrong way on the entire 18. This place is a close to perfect as it gets: Sunny and windy for the rest of the day as Annika Sorenstam, Morgan Pressel and Alena Sharp teed it up for various Canadian women's charities.
I've chatted with Sorenstam on several occasions. Sometimes she's a little impatient and sometimes she's a little indifferent. This time, she was neither. Perhaps she's come to grips with her own announcement of a week ago that she will call it quits at the end of this season. Time to have a family, she says. And why not? She's 37. Think of how much tougher it is for a woman to play any sport at the elite level than it is for a man. She's also a tireless competitor with a will to win as strong as any man. And yet she must see the writing on the wall. As dominant as Sorenstam once was, Lorena Ochoa is quickly becoming that dominant and more. She's won six times on tour already this year.
I asked Sorenstam about how she went about scheduling the remainder of her season and if it was any different than it would be if she was returning to the tour next year. Apparently not, which is good news for Canadian golf fans. She blurted out rather casually that she will indeed contest the CN Canadian Women's Open at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in August.
After our chat, we asked her to hit a few balls for the camera. Each shot looked like the same shot over and over and over: high and soft and right on the green she was aiming for.
The LPGA will certainly miss her. The depth of field is small and shrinking. Compare the LPGA to the PGA Tour this year. On the women's side there have been just four different winners of 12 tournaments. But on the PGA tour, there have been 19 different winners of 22 events. Take Sorenstam out of the mix and the competitive balance on the LPGA Tour shrinks yet again.
