Annika Sorenstam made some not too nice comments about Michelle Wie to Golf Magazine in an interview, but that has not stopped the former prodigy from playing golf or accepting an apology from the Hall of Famer.
According to ESPN.com, Sorenstam said that the former prodigy hasn't shown her talent and that her time playing against men may have hurt her play on the LPGA Tour. Wie took the comments in stride and said that she accepted her apology after the two spoke on the phone. Wie was once considered a star on the Tour but she has struggled since winning in Canada in 2010 and she has been overshadowed by 15-year-old prodigy Lydia Ko.
Wie has missed a number of cuts this year and has struggled in two tournaments in Asia. She started off with a 72 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and has struggled to get under 70 at any point in any tournament. Sorenstam is considered to be the best female golfer of all time and Wie has never come close to her success.
Top ranked amateur, New Zealand's 15-year-old Lydia Ko, opened up with an even par 72, while South Korean Choi and Norwegian Pettersen, playing together, fired unblemished rounds of four-under-par 68 to top a crowded leaderboard at the opening women's major of the year at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.
World number 110 Ewart Shadoff needed six birdies to offset her two bogeys and stay with her more decorated rivals, a stroke clear of South Korean Amy Yang and Swede Anna Nordqvist at three-under.
World number eight Pettersen, winner of the 2007 LPGA Championship, has finished runner-up on three previous occasions at this event and was pleased with the start of her quest to go one better. Reigning U.S. Open champion Choi believed playing together had helped both players.
Americans Jane Park, Jacqui Concolino, Jessica Korda, Lizette Salas and Angela Stanford joined Koreans Shin Ji-yai, Park Hee-young and Inbee Park plus German Caroline Masson, Italian Giulia Sergas and Thailand's Moriya Jutanugarn in an 11-way tie for sixth just two off the lead.
(Reuters)