While most women across the nation will enjoy being showered by gifts and pampered this weekend, Annika Sorenstam will be sweating.
This is not a nervous sweat, yet pouring forth from intense training as Sorenstam prepares for her PGA debut three months away.
No, that's not a typo, she's competing in the PGA, not the LPGA.
Sorenstam, who accepted an invitation Wednesday to play in the Colonial in May, will be the first woman to compete on the PGA Tour in nearly 60 years. And all we have to say to that is this: it's about time and what took so long?
Sorenstam, who is assessed by many to be the female version of Tiger Woods, has dominated the LPGA tournaments recently. It is only fair that she earn her deserved spot on the PGA Tour, because it is not the men's tour, it is the professional tour.
And if a female athlete can possess the pro skills equal to her male counterparts, why shouldn't she be able to compete with the men?
Currently, Sorenstam would rank near 200th in the world in driving distance on the PGA Tour - from the men's tees.
So what happens if she finishes well? Will the men's private club of Augusta allow her to play? It's highly unlikely, so why doesn't the PGA pull the plug on Augusta? Tradition - the same reason the private club won't let women in.
Well, the ugly wall of tradition has been broken down before, as Jackie Robinson entered Major League Baseball in 1947. While less celebrated in history, but deserving similar recognition, is Babe Zaharias, who in 1945 was the last female golfer to play on the PGA Tour.
Though Robinson busted down the doors of segregation and the floodgates opened for black athletes to compete in the pros, women still find themselves locked out.
For example, Venus and Serena Williams easily could compete in, if not dominate, opponents on the men's pro tennis tour, yet they earn significantly less rewards on the ladies' tour.
The bottom line is that when Sorenstam smashes her drive out at the Colonial, acknowledge her not as a guest, but a competitor, and hopefully more female athletes and professional leagues will follow suit.
