Sorenstam's Golf Plans Stirs Controversy

May 14 -- For months, the controversy simmered beneath the surface. Now it has erupted with a top male golfer lashing out at Annika Sorenstam, the superstar of the women's golf tour, for planning to play next week in a men's event.

"What is she going to prove by playing?" Vijay Singh, a former Masters champion, told The Associated Press. "It's ridiculous. She doesn't belong out there."

Sorenstam will join the otherwise all-male field at the Colonial Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas. Singh said he hoped Sorenstam would not make the cut — the halfway point in the tournament when those who don't score low enough are eliminated.

He also said if he were paired with the 34-year-old Swede, he would not play. But later Singh apologized, saying he wassorry if his comments about Sorenstam playing on the PGATour came across as a personal attack.

Singh Apologizes

"If it was an attack on Annika at all, I would like toapologize to her," Singh said after a practice round for thisweek's Byron Nelson Classic. "It was not put that way. It came outthe wrong way," he said.

On Tuesday, Singh attempted to cast his remarks in a differentlight.

"I actually said if I miss the cut, I'd rather she miss the cutas well," he told reporters who were waiting for him as he cameoff the course. "I hope she missed the cut because I don't want tohave a woman beat me."

Sorenstam, who won a women's tournament in Japan earlier this week, was not immediately available for comment.

When she tees off at the Colonial Country Club on May 22, she will be the first female pro golfer to play in a men's event since Babe Didrickson Zaharias competed in the Los Angeles Open in 1945.

In a recent interview, Sorenstam, who is arguably the greatest female golfer ever, told ABCNEWS she wanted to play against men as a "challenge," and a way to measure her game against the best players in the world.

A Self-Challenge

"I thought this would be a true test to see what are my strengths, what are my weakenesses? Can I play against the guys? That's pretty much it, that's why I'm doing it," Sorenstam said.