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Her rivals -- young, hip and hungry -- eagerly assembled this week at the SBS Open in Hawaii for the start of an already attention-grabbing LPGA tour season.
Fittingly, Annika Sorenstam again stands high above the fray. They might be gaining on her, but Sorenstam sounds relaxed, energized and rather bemused as she tackles the slopes during a ski vacation in Lake Tahoe, Nev.
"I'm sure they are," Sorenstam, 35, says with a laugh while taking a break between ski runs. "These young players got a lot of game. There's some strong characters, attitude. It's good for all of us. As a competitor, I welcome all that."
To hear all the chatter, it won't be long before players such as Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Ai Miyazato and Michelle Wie chip away and topple Mount Sorenstam. They are the future of women's golf, and along with Cristie Kerr and Christina Kim, pose a threat to Sorenstam's supremacy any given week.
They have blogs, websites and, in Natalie Gulbis' case, a revealing calendar. Sorenstam has 43 victories in the last five years, including 10 in 20 events last season, when her personal life was in upheaval with a divorce that became final in August. She has a new boyfriend, too: Mike McGee, 31, a golf agent and son of former PGA Tour winner Jerry McGee.
"I've got my hands full, let's put it that way," Sorenstam says of the youngsters, who will have to wait until the MasterCard Classic in Mexico, the third event March10-12, for their first crack at her.
Indeed, those chasing Sorenstam appear quite capable of sparking rivalries and story lines among themselves while laying in wait in what LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens calls a "remarkable time for us."
"I don't see that there has to be rivalries," she adds. "All these women are strong-willed competitors who want to win and break records."
Creamer plans to push herself to validate her amazing rookie season (four worldwide victories, including two on the LPGA tour, and No.2 on the money list behind Sorenstam) with an even stronger second year that includes a major title.
"My biggest rivalry is with the person ahead of me," Creamer says. "If you can compete with her, if you can play at her level, that's who I need to look at."
At the season-ending ADT Championship, Creamer refused to back down after twice challenging Sorenstam on the rules in the first round.
"I don't regret anything that happened," Creamer says of the incident. "It's done, we can't change it. Nobody will ever know really what happened. I saw one thing, and she saw another. That was it. We can't do anything about that anymore."
Kerr has six victories in 10 seasons but has yet to win a major. She welcomes the next generation but doesn't intend to give an inch.
"I think LPGA players for a long time were afraid to say what's on their minds," Kerr says. "But we're doing all the right things and there's nothing wrong with having some great personalities and rivalries and some friction. I think that's really good for the sport."
Pressel, 17, brings fearless talent and a feisty rookie attitude, already citing Sorenstam as her target.
"We'll see who can stop her first," Pressel says.
Like Creamer, Pressel compiled a brilliant junior record. Her credentials include top-25 finishes in all seven LPGA events she played last season, a tie for second in the U.S. Women's Open and a victory in the U.S. Women's Amateur.
Her confidence extends to at least matching Creamer's sensational first season. "I'd like to do better than that," Pressel says. "I'm going to go out there and play my game, wherever that puts me. If I've improved as much as she did through her transition, then maybe I will. I'm going to go out and try and win as many times as I can."
Wie, who makes her season debut at next week's Fields Open in Hawaii, doesn't know what kind of reception to expect now that's she's a pro. "I'm not really sure what they think," she says, downplaying her role in any rivalries.
David Leadbetter, Wie's swing coach, believes stares and whispers are more evident among players on the LPGA tour than when Wie plays a men's tournament.
"I've heard less scuttlebutt about her (on the PGA Tour) than I have on the LPGA tour," Leadbetter says. "Things are a little more contentious. There's a lot more rivalries there."
Wie is not an LPGA member because she's 16 and can make only six to eight cameos on the women's tour.
Criticized for playing men's events and not yet winning against LPGA competition, Wie nonetheless appears closer to that first victory, having notched three seconds and a third last season.
She figures her experience while missing the cut on a 7,000-yard course at the PGA Tour's Sony Open might help her on LPGA courses. Ko Olina, where Wie practices and has playing privileges, is expected to play about 6,520 yards next week.
"It might be a little bit easier for me when I get out there," she says. "Coming from (Sony), every hole is an 8-iron or wedge into the green. It depends on the course. I don't feel like I hold back out there on the LPGA tour. But it should be a lot easier for me."
Sorenstam and the others will be watching closely.
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