Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Susan Reed

Aired May 17, 2003 - 14:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A female golf pro will invade the male-dominated PGA Tour next weekend. As you might expect, she is getting a whole lot of attention. As CNN's Josie Karp reports, some of that has not been so positive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Annika Sorenstam has not set foot on the course at the Colonial, yet she has already made one bad read.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM, PRO GOLFER: I'm overwhelmed with the attention. I must say I didn't expect this, and maybe I was a little naive when I announced I was going to play in the PGA event.

KARP: From Billy Jean King beating Bobby Rigs in 1973 to "Survivor" in 2003, battles of the sexes continue to captivate us. Since announcing her intentions in February, Sorenstam has been the focus of intense scrutiny and debate.

SORENSTAM: Mentally, I don't really know what to expect when I get to Colonial. I know it's going to be probably like all four majors put together in one week. So it's going to be tough. But it's for the whole thing and that's why I'm doing it.

KARP: Sorenstam's motives have been questioned by some of the men who will play against her, most notably Vijay Singh. He calls her appearance ridiculous and questioned whether she belonged in the field because she did not have to qualify, yet Singh also expressed concern that Sorenstam might play too well.

VIJAY SINGH, 2000 MASTERS CHAMPION: If I missed the cut, I would rather see her miss the cut as well. I hope she missed the cut, because I don't want to go back and know that a woman beat me.

KARP: The first woman to post around a 59, Sorenstam is considered the world's best female golfer. Last season, she won 13 tournaments, and her dominance of the woman's tour exceeded Tiger Woods' dominance of the men's tour.

The 32-year-old Swede who now lives in the United States says she's not playing in the Colonial to become a magazine cover girl but to discover something about her make up.

SORENSTAM: I'm doing this because I like to test myself. I've always, being an athlete, I've always liked new challenges, and my main goal is always to be a better player and I'm looking for ways to take my game to a different level. And I hope by playing here, I will raise the level of golf and I will take it to the LPGA Tour and get all of the experience and hopefully do better on that tour. That's where I want to win more tournaments and set more records.

KARP: Sorenstam hand-picked the Colonial to try to neutralize her male opponents' biggest advantage -- driving distance. The Colonial is shorter than the average PGA course, with only two par 5s instead of the usual four.

SORENSTAM: This is the week I will never forget. When I am 60 years old, I'm going to show grandkids or whatever, I played in the PGA Tour event and I will never forget.

KARP: Sorenstam bows to take a conservative approach to the course, but it may be too late for that. Just by showing up, she's making a bold move.

For CNN Sports, I'm Josie Karp.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: So who exactly is Annika Sorenstam? For those who might not be familiar with her impressive achievements we turn now to Susan Reed, with "Golf for Women" magazine. She joins with us insights from New York. Susan, thanks for being here.

SUSAN REED, GOLF FOR WOMEN MAGAZINE: Hi, Heidi, nice to be here.

COLLINS: Thanks. I want to ask you, I follow golf a little bit, but as we mentioned, not everybody does. So tell us, Annika is a great player. What are her achievements?

REED: Annika's the best woman player to come along in many generations in the women's game. She has won more tournaments during the last year or two years. She's gotten -- she's given herself the best record of any golfer in four decades. And I compare her a little bit to Martina Navratilova about two decades ago, who raised the women's game through conditioning and through mental toughness, and Annika has taken her game to such a level that she's beaten all the women on the women's tour and now she wants to challenge the men, and it's really about curiosity about her own goals and, you know, how good she can be.

COLLINS: So why didn't she have to qualify for this event?

REED: Well, you know, despite the whining on the men's tour about, you know, her invading their turf, she's not doing anything of the kind. All golf tournaments, all professional golf tournaments have what is called sponsor's exemptions. The Bank of America, who is sponsoring this tournament, has eight exemptions and they can invite anybody they want to play in the tournament, and there are seven other people who are going to be exempted into the tournament. And I'll tell you, for a sponsor the amount of attention that this tournament is going to receive this weekend, it's going to be great.

COLLINS: Haven't most of the other sponsors' exemptions, though, qualified at one time or another?

REED: They can. But they don't necessarily have to. And that's what a sponsors' exemption is about.

COLLINS: So this is a very definition of exactly what we're talking about?

REED: Exactly.

COLLINS: I do want to ask you, though, we heard some comments earlier in the week from Phil Mickelson who said for those men who are having a difficult time with this, it's really about the PGA being events for the world's best golfers. And if she is one of them, then she should be there.

REED: Well, you know, I think Phil is like one of the most progressive people on the men's tour. And what he's saying really is, not that the tour should be completely gender neutral. Nobody's saying that. Annika's not saying that. She just says I want to go out there and play one time.

But I think that what Phil is saying is, this is for the best professional golfers in the world. And not that females are going to storm their tour, but it's for the best. And if for one week, the best woman in the world wants to come and see how she fares against the best players in the world who are men, they're stronger, they can hit the ball farther, I think that's great for the game of golf.

COLLINS: So we have to turn the tables for just a moment, Susan. What if a man wanted to play at an LPGA event? Aren't there bylaws that would say no, you can't do that.

REED: Yes, there are. As a matter of fact, the LPGA says that you have to be born a woman to play on the LPGA tour. But really, it wouldn't make any sense for a man to want to go play on the women's tour, because they're stronger, they're better, and they would easily dominate the women. I mean, women wouldn't quibble with that statement. So it would just be sort of pointless, really, unless they wanted to try and horn in on the money or something like that.

But this is about one woman testing her curiosity about how good she can be. It's a one-time shot. I think it's going to be fascinating, and I think the whole country's going to be tuning in on Thursday, Friday and hopefully Saturday.

COLLINS: And that's what some of this is about, I am sure, is bringing some attention to the LPGA as well. Last question for you, remind us, will she be playing from the men's tees or the women's tees?

REED: Well, she'll absolutely be playing from the men's tees. She'll be teeing it up with a foursome of three other men. She'll be playing the 7,088 course. She hits it about as far as half the guys on the PGA tour, and I can't wait to see how she does.

COLLINS: All right, Susan Reed, thanks so much for joining us today, from "Golf for Women" magazine. We appreciate your thoughts on all of this.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 17, 2003 - 14:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A female golf pro will invade the male-dominated PGA Tour next weekend. As you might expect, she is getting a whole lot of attention. As CNN's Josie Karp reports, some of that has not been so positive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Annika Sorenstam has not set foot on the course at the Colonial, yet she has already made one bad read.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM, PRO GOLFER: I'm overwhelmed with the attention. I must say I didn't expect this, and maybe I was a little naive when I announced I was going to play in the PGA event.

KARP: From Billy Jean King beating Bobby Rigs in 1973 to "Survivor" in 2003, battles of the sexes continue to captivate us. Since announcing her intentions in February, Sorenstam has been the focus of intense scrutiny and debate.

SORENSTAM: Mentally, I don't really know what to expect when I get to Colonial. I know it's going to be probably like all four majors put together in one week. So it's going to be tough. But it's for the whole thing and that's why I'm doing it.

KARP: Sorenstam's motives have been questioned by some of the men who will play against her, most notably Vijay Singh. He calls her appearance ridiculous and questioned whether she belonged in the field because she did not have to qualify, yet Singh also expressed concern that Sorenstam might play too well.

VIJAY SINGH, 2000 MASTERS CHAMPION: If I missed the cut, I would rather see her miss the cut as well. I hope she missed the cut, because I don't want to go back and know that a woman beat me.

KARP: The first woman to post around a 59, Sorenstam is considered the world's best female golfer. Last season, she won 13 tournaments, and her dominance of the woman's tour exceeded Tiger Woods' dominance of the men's tour.

The 32-year-old Swede who now lives in the United States says she's not playing in the Colonial to become a magazine cover girl but to discover something about her make up.

SORENSTAM: I'm doing this because I like to test myself. I've always, being an athlete, I've always liked new challenges, and my main goal is always to be a better player and I'm looking for ways to take my game to a different level. And I hope by playing here, I will raise the level of golf and I will take it to the LPGA Tour and get all of the experience and hopefully do better on that tour. That's where I want to win more tournaments and set more records.

KARP: Sorenstam hand-picked the Colonial to try to neutralize her male opponents' biggest advantage -- driving distance. The Colonial is shorter than the average PGA course, with only two par 5s instead of the usual four.

SORENSTAM: This is the week I will never forget. When I am 60 years old, I'm going to show grandkids or whatever, I played in the PGA Tour event and I will never forget.

KARP: Sorenstam bows to take a conservative approach to the course, but it may be too late for that. Just by showing up, she's making a bold move.

For CNN Sports, I'm Josie Karp.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: So who exactly is Annika Sorenstam? For those who might not be familiar with her impressive achievements we turn now to Susan Reed, with "Golf for Women" magazine. She joins with us insights from New York. Susan, thanks for being here.

SUSAN REED, GOLF FOR WOMEN MAGAZINE: Hi, Heidi, nice to be here.

COLLINS: Thanks. I want to ask you, I follow golf a little bit, but as we mentioned, not everybody does. So tell us, Annika is a great player. What are her achievements?

REED: Annika's the best woman player to come along in many generations in the women's game. She has won more tournaments during the last year or two years. She's gotten -- she's given herself the best record of any golfer in four decades. And I compare her a little bit to Martina Navratilova about two decades ago, who raised the women's game through conditioning and through mental toughness, and Annika has taken her game to such a level that she's beaten all the women on the women's tour and now she wants to challenge the men, and it's really about curiosity about her own goals and, you know, how good she can be.

COLLINS: So why didn't she have to qualify for this event?

REED: Well, you know, despite the whining on the men's tour about, you know, her invading their turf, she's not doing anything of the kind. All golf tournaments, all professional golf tournaments have what is called sponsor's exemptions. The Bank of America, who is sponsoring this tournament, has eight exemptions and they can invite anybody they want to play in the tournament, and there are seven other people who are going to be exempted into the tournament. And I'll tell you, for a sponsor the amount of attention that this tournament is going to receive this weekend, it's going to be great.

COLLINS: Haven't most of the other sponsors' exemptions, though, qualified at one time or another?

REED: They can. But they don't necessarily have to. And that's what a sponsors' exemption is about.

COLLINS: So this is a very definition of exactly what we're talking about?

REED: Exactly.

COLLINS: I do want to ask you, though, we heard some comments earlier in the week from Phil Mickelson who said for those men who are having a difficult time with this, it's really about the PGA being events for the world's best golfers. And if she is one of them, then she should be there.

REED: Well, you know, I think Phil is like one of the most progressive people on the men's tour. And what he's saying really is, not that the tour should be completely gender neutral. Nobody's saying that. Annika's not saying that. She just says I want to go out there and play one time.

But I think that what Phil is saying is, this is for the best professional golfers in the world. And not that females are going to storm their tour, but it's for the best. And if for one week, the best woman in the world wants to come and see how she fares against the best players in the world who are men, they're stronger, they can hit the ball farther, I think that's great for the game of golf.

COLLINS: So we have to turn the tables for just a moment, Susan. What if a man wanted to play at an LPGA event? Aren't there bylaws that would say no, you can't do that.

REED: Yes, there are. As a matter of fact, the LPGA says that you have to be born a woman to play on the LPGA tour. But really, it wouldn't make any sense for a man to want to go play on the women's tour, because they're stronger, they're better, and they would easily dominate the women. I mean, women wouldn't quibble with that statement. So it would just be sort of pointless, really, unless they wanted to try and horn in on the money or something like that.

But this is about one woman testing her curiosity about how good she can be. It's a one-time shot. I think it's going to be fascinating, and I think the whole country's going to be tuning in on Thursday, Friday and hopefully Saturday.

COLLINS: And that's what some of this is about, I am sure, is bringing some attention to the LPGA as well. Last question for you, remind us, will she be playing from the men's tees or the women's tees?

REED: Well, she'll absolutely be playing from the men's tees. She'll be teeing it up with a foursome of three other men. She'll be playing the 7,088 course. She hits it about as far as half the guys on the PGA tour, and I can't wait to see how she does.

COLLINS: All right, Susan Reed, thanks so much for joining us today, from "Golf for Women" magazine. We appreciate your thoughts on all of this.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com