MIX 'N' MATCH SORENSTAM-WOODS TO FACE WEBB-DUVAL.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb had to watch prime-time televised golf with the rest of the world the past two years.

In 1999 they saw Tiger Woods defeat David Duval at Thousand Oaks' Sherwood Country Club. Then it was Sergio Garcia besting Woods at the Canyons Course of Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert last summer.

But Monday's latest Battle at Bighorn will feature the two best men in the world and the two best women golfers, as Woods and Sorenstam team to face Duval and Webb in an 18-hole alternate-shot match.

The duel will be televised live on ABC (Channel 7) beginning at 5 p.m., with the winning team splitting $1.2 million and the losers dividing $500,000.

How do Sorenstam and Webb, who have combined to win eight LPGA majors - five of the past seven - in a combined 14 years on tour, feel about their prime-time debut?

``I told (Woods) to bring his 'A' game,'' Sorenstam joked in a recent phone interview.

``It is just going to be a fun format,'' Webb said, ``and I think it is going to be great for television.''

Webb, an Australian who joined the tour six years ago and already has a career Grand Slam, said she does not feel any pressure of representing the LPGA.

``The fact that we, as LPGA players, have been invited to play in this event is enough recognition already,'' she said. ``If they did not think we could play well, then they would not have asked us.''

Sweden's Sorenstam, an eight-year LPGA player who already has qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame in every category, agreed.

``It is a little more relaxed format playing alternate shot,'' she said, ``and we have the best partners that you could have. The best guys in the world. If you do not hit a good shot, you know they will recover for you.''

Are the guys saying the same thing?

``Yes,'' Sorenstam said, laughing, ``I think they are saying that Karrie and I can recover for their bad shots.''

Would Webb and Sorenstam rather have the format men against women?

``This is not about showing who is the best player - men or women,'' Sorenstam said. ``When they told me the format, I thought it was a great idea. The guys will tee off from odd holes and Karrie and I will tee off from the even holes. So I guess you can compare the men when they hit each shot and you can compare Karrie and I when we hit ours.''

Webb also said she likes the format. ``There is no buildup of women against men. It is just going to be a different style of golf than people are used to seeing and that is going to be the most intriguing thing.''

And the challenges of the course itself?

Sorenstam, who is a member at Bighorn, said it ``... is very much a desert golf course. It has wide fairways and big greens, but once you miss the fairway you will be up where the snakes and the cactus are.''

Both women will fly to England after the match to play in the LPGA's fourth major of the year, the Weetabix Women's British Open, so the invitation to join the Battle at Bighorn presented a scheduling conflict.

``When I looked at the schedule,'' Sorenstam said, ``my first reaction was that the British is a big tournament. But, the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that this (Bighorn) is an opportunity that I cannot pass up. This is a chance for me to play with the guys, a chance to be on national (prime time) television and to showcase the LPGA.''

Said Webb: ``My immediate thought was, 'Well, it is just not possible.' But I realized that if Annika and I both turned something like this down, they would either find two other players to do it or they would not use women at all. So this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I was not going to let it pass me by.''

BATTLE AT BIGHORN

What: ABC's third offering of prime-time televised professional golf, Monday at 5 p.m

Where: Bighorn Golf Club, Palm Desert

Format: Tiger Woods/Annika Sorenstam vs. David Duval/Karrie Webb in alternate-shot team match play

Purse: $1.7 million, with winning team splitting $1.2 million

Tickets: Grounds-only gallery passes $100 [phone]

Prime-time history: 1999: Woods d. Duval at Sherwood CC; 2000: Sergio Garcia d. Woods at Bighorn

GOLF TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

(Competition open to the public)

--July 26-U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier at Western Hills CC (www.usga.org; entries close July 11)

--July 30-U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier at Bernardo Heights CC and Apple Valley CC (www.usga.org; entries close July 11)

--Aug. 4-5-Costa Mesa City Championship at Costa Mesa Golf and CC

--Aug. 4-5-Santa Barbara Golf Classic at Santa Barbara GC

--Aug. 4-5-Simi Valley City Championship at Simi Hills GC

--Aug. 6-U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier at Bakersfield CC (www.usga.org; entries close July 11)

--Aug. 6-U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifiers at Spring Valley Lake, Mission Viejo (www.usga.org; entries close July 18)

--Aug. 6-U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier at SCGA Members Club (www.usga.org; entries close July 11)

--Aug. 18-19-Santa Maria Valley Men's Amateur Championship at Rancho Maria GC

--Aug. 21-SCGA Four-Ball Net Qualifiers at Moreno Valley Ranch, Soule Park, Sierra La Verne, Steele Canyon (www.scga.org; entries close Aug. 2)

--Aug. 28-SCGA Senior Amateur Qualifier at Talega GC (www.scga.org; entries close Aug. 8)

--Aug. 30-SCGA Senior Amateur Qualifier at SCGA Members Club (www.scga.org; entries close Aug. 8)

--Sept. 10-Guide Dogs of America Golf Classic at Valencia CC (818-362-5834)

--Sept. 13-U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifier at Desert Island (www.usga.org; entries close Aug. 22)

--Sept. 17-U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifier at Valencia CC (www.usga.org; entries close Aug. 22)

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1) ``It is just going to be a fun format and I think it is going to be great for television.'' - Karrie Webb, who will team with David Duval

(2) ``It is a little more relaxed format playing alternate shot and we have the best partners that you could have.'' - Annika Sorenstam, who will team with Tiger Woods

Box: (1) BATTLE AT BIGHORN (see text)

(2) GOLF TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (see text)