SORENSTAM MISSED CUT, BUT MADE HISTORY.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

Hey, how's Annika doin'?

"She's not gonna make the cut," said Cory Osborn, standing behind the counter Friday at Jake's Place, the bar and grill at the Oakway Golf Course. "And I've got $10 she won't, so I'm happy."

Not that Osborn, 28, a waiter at the restaurant, wanted Annika Sorenstam - the Swedish superstar of women's golf - to fail in the first attempt in 58 years by a woman to challenge the men of the PGA Tour.

He just didn't think she could do it.

"There are just too many people for her to beat to make the cut," he said, as Sorenstam's image could be seen on the big-screen TV at Jake's. "She doesn't really have the driving power."

Golfers at a couple of local courses who were asked Friday whether Sorenstam should have been allowed to play on the men's tour were all in agreement that it was the right call.

"It makes it a lot more interesting," said Paul Wiley, 23, who was working in the golf shop at RiverRidge Golf Course in north Eugene. "A lot of people have been coming in and asking about it," he said of the Colonial golf tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, where Sorenstam failed to make the cut after two days of play, shooting 5 over par 145 and finishing 96th out of 111 players who completed the two rounds.

Sorenstam's venture into men's golf evoked images of Billy Jean King's battle against Bobby Riggs on a tennis court in the Houston Astrodome 30 years ago, although men's attitudes toward women athletes have come a long way in three decades.

"I don't see anything wrong with it; I think it helps golf," said 75-year-old Dick Buck, watching Sorenstam on the TV in the pro shop at RiverRidge. "And I think the same should be true for the men; they should be able to play on the LPGA," he said, referring to the women's professional golf tour. "What's good for the goose is good for the gander."

Kelly Paulson, the general manager at Oakway, didn't think that would work too well.

"It doesn't make sense," she said. "(A man) would win. It's just not a challenge from the women's tees."

But a woman winning on the men's tour? Now that's a different story, Paulson said.

"Not because it's man versus woman," she said. "It's just that some guys are being jerks about it. She's just an athlete trying to make it to the next level."

Ginny Stark of Eugene and her son, Ben Nahir, tried to put it all in perspective as they sat watching in the RiverRidge pro shop.

"What's important is she got the opportunity to play," said Nahir, 21, who is home on a 10-day break from Harvey Mudd College in southern California. "There's a lot of guys who won't make the cut, too."

A lot of people could take a lesson from Sorenstam and her demeanor, Stark said.

"She's just a nice, decent person."

CAPTION(S):

Annika Sorenstam waves to supporters Friday at the Colonial. Her try to make the cut ended with a rash of bogeys. Story, Page D1. Sorenstam: Her challenge `helps golf' Continued from Page A1