By SAM WEINMAN
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

Now that Annika Sorenstam has expressed interest in competing in a PGA Tour event, count the Buick Classic as one tournament at least considering inviting her to play.

"It would obviously be a different story," said Peter Mele, the tournament director for the annual event at Harrison's Westchester Country Club. "No one's ever covered a woman playing in a men's tournament. It would obviously attract attention. She's well respected. No one questions her skills."

A winner of 13 events worldwide last year, the women's game's No. 1 player on Wednesday told reporters if the timing was right, she'd "say 'Yes,' in a heartbeat, " to an invitation to play in a PGA Tour event.

"It's a great challenge. It's not something I want to do regularly. But it would be a great learning experience," Sorenstam, 32, said at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla.

Another woman, Suzy Whaley, has already committed to playing in the Tour's Greater Hartford Open in July, having qualified for the event by winning last season's Connecticut Section PGA Championship. The difference is Whaley is a club pro, while Sorenstam is the dominant player in women's golf, last year setting or tying nearly two dozen records. Whereas Whaley said she would be content just to break 90, Sorenstam would be held to a much higher standard.

"They want to put her on the right golf course where she can be competitive and make the cut," said Tim Rosaforte, a senior writer for Golf World magazine and a frequent contributor to The Golf Channel. "This is not a Bobby Riggs thing. I don't think they're trying to make a statement as much as she wants to test herself and see where she stands competitively."

One leading player, Phil Mickelson, said he would welcome seeing a player like Sorenstam play in a men's event.

"The PGA Tour has always said it's about having the best players in the world compete," Mickelson told reporters at The Phoenix Open. "And we've never differentiated male or female. It's just that there are a select few female players that can compete on the PGA Tour."

Sorenstam said she would prefer to play a shorter course with tight fairways and high rough. Westchester fits that description to the letter. At 6,722 yards, it is the shortest course on Tour, although that number is deceptive. It's true, the par-5s and par-3s are relatively short, but the par-4s are not. Two holes - the par-4 12th and 11th - ranked as the 15th and 19th toughest holes, respectively, on the PGA Tour last year. No other regular Tour stop had two holes in the top 20.

As Mele said, "it is the longest 6,700-yard course you'll ever see."

A number of other sites might be considered, ranging from the Nissan Open's Riviera Country Club (next month) to The Heritage's Harbour Town Golf Links (in April) to Bell Canadian Open's Hamilton Golf and Country Club (in September).

Since Sorenstam is not a regular member of the PGA Tour, she would need a sponsor's exemption into any event in order to play. Mele said his staff doesn't get around to thinking about such exemptions until March, and that he would first have to consult with both his superiors at the PGA Tour as well as title sponsor Buick.

Still, Mele conceded, "it appears the golf course would suit her game perfectly."

The timing might work as well. The Classic usually coincides with the McDonald's LPGA Championship, one of the women's game's four majors. This year's LPGA Championship, however, is scheduled for June 5-8, two weeks before the Classic.

Then again, the Classic also falls before the GHO, meaning Sorenstam would risk pulling the spotlight away from Whaley.

"That's a consideration for her," Rosaforte said. "Just from reading what she's said, I know she respects what Suzy is doing."

If she respects Whaley, however, Sorenstam feels the club pro's performance in Hartford might be misleading.

"She has her goals," Sorenstam said on Wednesday. "I just hope people will realize that she's not a tour pro. She's a teaching pro, so I hope they won't judge her or the LPGA by what she shoots."