BELLEAIR, Fla. – Annika Sorenstam still remembers how overwhelmed she was. When she accepted that sponsor exemption to compete in what would be the only PGA Tour start of her career, at the 2003 Bank of America Colonial, her only thought was how it could help her improve as a player.

She had no idea the controversy that would ensue.

“All of a sudden, it felt like the whole world had an opinion about my game, and [were asking], why should a woman play in a PGA event?” said Sorenstam, who would shoot a respectable 71-74 to narrowly miss the cut that week. “There were a lot of thoughts out there and comments out there. I think what was most interesting is people that never really covered golf, especially women’s golf, all of a sudden, they were experts in my game.”

More than two decades la

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