Greg Norman thinks enough of Annika Sorenstam’s game to invite her to play with the guys of the PGA at the Merrill Lynch Shootout.

Ticket sales are soaring for this event, but unlike Michelle Wie horning in on the men duing the regular season, this event is non-sanctioned by the PGA.

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Such is her dominance that Sorenstams lead was nearly double that of Paula Creamer at No. 2.

The only surprise was Michelle Wie.

The 16-year-old from Hawaii, who turned pro in October, checked in at No. 3 and could move ahead of Creamer depending on what happens in the Fields Open in Hawaii this week on the LPGA Tour.

The womens ranking, sponsored by Rolex, will be published every Tuesday and used as criteria for getting into tournaments such as the LPGA Championship, the Womens British Open and the HSBC Womens World Match Play.

“The Rolex Rankings make nationality, tour membership and amateur or professional status virtually invisible, providing a definitive answer to the question, Who are the best women golfers in the world?” LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens said.

The system is similar to the mens ranking. It measures performance over two years, with emphasis placed on the most recent 13-week period. Points are assigned based on the strength of field, then divided by the number of tournaments played.

But there are two major differences.

Professionals and amateurs can appear in the womens world ranking because anyone can earn points by competing in official events on the LPGA, European, Japan, Korean and Australian womens tours, along with the developmental Futures Tour in the United States.

And while the men have a minimum divisor of 40 tournaments over two years, the womens divisor is only 15.

That explains why Wie, who plays sparingly while attending high school in Honolulu, started out ranked so high.

She has played 15 events on the LPGA since 2004 with six top-10 finishes — three in majors. She was fourth in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 04, and last year was second at the LPGA Championship and tied for third in the Womens British Open. Creamer, meanwhile, won four times worldwide as an LPGA Tour rookie last year. But she has played 35 times in the last two years as a pro and an amateur, so her point average comes out to 9.65. Wie was at 9.24. Read more here…

Source: Golfersgateway blog

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Article written by:DOUG FERGUSON