Pirate Galaxy » season on a high, after Fridays perfo

When Annika Sorenstam played in the 2003 Bank of America Colonial amid much fanfare as the first woman to compete in a PGA Tour event since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945, Lexi Thompson was only 8 years old.Ive seen highlights, but I didnt watch too much golf then, Thompson says. I was a little younger and too busy practicing myself.The work paid off. Thompson is 21 now, No. 5 in the Rolex Rankings -- the highest-ranked American golfer -- with seven career LPGA victories, having won her first title in 2011 at the then-record age of 16.Thompsons presence in this weeks Franklin Templeton Shootout, an unofficial PGA Tour team event in Naples, Florida, certainly isnt wrapped with the hype of Sorenstams appearance at Colonial, where she shot 71-74 to miss the 36-hole cut by four strokes while impressing with her skills and grace under pressure.Still, when Thompson tees off with PGA Tour rookie Bryson DeChambeau on Thursday at Tiburon Golf Club in the first round of the 54-hole event, it will be her first time competing against men in this type of scenario. She partnered with DeChambeau in the 36-hole CVS Health Charity Classic earlier this year, tying for sixth in the unofficial event, but played shorter yardages on most holes.A few holes were from the same tees, Thompson says, but for most part they were up.No woman might have a better background for venturing to the back tees in a mens tournament than Thompson, the first LPGA participant at the Franklin Templeton since Sorenstam paired with Fred Couples in 2006. Her two brothers, Curtis, 24, and Nicholas, 33, are professional golfers -- Curtis is on the Web.com Tour, and Nicholas has been on the PGA Tour for a decade -- and she learned how to play alongside her siblings.It helped me out a lot, Thompson says. It made me a lot stronger as a player and as a person. They got me started in the game, and they were always there to help. Growing up with two older brothers who played is the main reason I swing as hard as I do. I always tried to outdrive them, to be able to handle the golf course, and it definitely made me a lot longer.Thompson has been one of the LPGAs most powerful players since joining the tour as a teenager. She averaged 277.40 yards to rank second behind Joanna Klatten (281.37 yards) in driving distance during the 2016 season, the fourth time she has been No. 2 in the category. (Thompson was fourth in 2015.)The length will be needed. Thompsons 2016 drives would have ranked 178th on the PGA Tour. And the demands at Tiburon Golf Club will be much different for Thompson this week than they were in the LPGAs season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. The women play par-72 Tiburon at 6,540 yards; it will measure 7,271 yards on the scorecard for the Shootouts 12 teams in scramble, modified alternate shot and better-ball formats.Its going to be different for her, playing the distance that the men do, says Curtis Thompson. But shes going to embrace whats going on and enjoy it. When she plays a couple of rounds before the tournament starts, shell adapt, shell figure it out. The par 5s and shorter par 4s is where shell succeed, and on the long par 4s and par 3s, Bryson will have to take over.Tiburons front nine, with three par 4s of 440 yards or more, will be a test for Thompson. So will three of the layouts par 3s, which will measure at least 205 yards, something she doesnt encounter on the LPGA.There will be a few holes that definitely can play very hard, that will be tough, says Thompson, who doesnt plan to carry any different clubs to take on the longer set-up. The par 3s will be a good amount longer than in our tournament, and I already have a 6-iron into two of them.Sorenstam and Couples finished last 10 years ago, shooting 18-under 198, 13 strokes behind the winning team of Jerry Kelly-Rod Pampling. The intimidation factor never really went away because theyre such good ball strikers, Sorenstam told reporters of competing with men at the end of the 2006 Shootout, which occurred during a decade when women were getting opportunities to test their games as Zaharias had in the 1930s and 1940s.A couple of months after Sorenstam played at Colonial, Connecticut teaching professional Suzy Whaley was in the field at the Greater Hartford Open. Michelle Wie, only 14, played in the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii, the first of 14 tournaments in which she competed against men on a handful of pro tours. Se Ri Pak and Laura Davies also made appearances in mens tournaments, Pak tying for 10th in a 2003 event in South Korea.Thompson, who got the Shootout invitation from tournament host Greg Norman, vows to enjoy the experience playing with DeChambeau, 23, who approaches golf like a physics class and in 2015 became only the fifth player to win the mens NCAA individual championship and U.S. Amateur in the same year.I dont look at it as pressure. Overall, its to have fun, Thompson says. I think its good for the LPGA to have someone out there playing out there playing against the men, and it will bring a bigger fan base to the LPGA. It was a huge honor to be invited. People on tour have been encouraging and theyre excited.Regardless of how Thompson fares in this different environment, the appearance is unlikely to shake up her career path too much.I really havent had an interest, she says of playing in an official mens event. My only interest is if my brothers are playing and if the golf course suited my game well. The LPGA competition makes it hard enough to win. Barry Sanders Youth Jersey .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. T.J. Hockenson Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. http://www.shopdetroitlionsnfl.com/lions-calvin-johnson-black-jersey/ . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Kenny Golladay Youth Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Marvin Jones Jr Youth Jersey . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Daniel Ricciardo applauded Red Bulls recent turnaround after recording an awesome podium alongside teammate Max Verstappen at the German Grand Prix.Ricciardo and Verstappen jumped polesitter Nico Rosberg off the line, and the trio battled for the final two spots on the podium behind Lewis Hamilton for the rest of the race. Ricciardo was beaten by Verstappen into Turn 1 but managed to jump ahead of his teammate at his third pit stop, with the Australian consolidating second position with strong pace in the closing stint.Speaking on the podium after the win, Ricciardo said: Thanks to Red Bull Racing, I think its the first double podium for us in over a year, so its awesome to close out the first part of the season.Ricciardo and Verstappen were on split strategies through the race, with the Dutch teenager letting his teammate by at a crucial part of the race when both men were trying to keep Rosberg in range. Ricciardo says Red Bulls pace on the super-soft at the end was on par with Mercedes.?We wanted to finish the first part of the season on a high, after Fridays performance we thought we would probbably be more competitive in the race than we were in Budapest.dddddddddddd We obviously had a little sniff at the start of the race. We knew we had something on so it was about making the most of it, as always, but it was obviously nice motivation to make the most of it.The start initially felt quite good. Nicos was obviously quite poor so we got past him and then I covered the inside in Turn 1 but then I didnt realise on the outside, it was very close but we kept it on track. To my disappointed he pulled off the move at Turn 1. Keeping Nico back there on the first lap, it was a good little battle there for a few corners and that was quite important for my race to keep him behind and focus on what I needed to do.I would say the first two stints, super-soft, soft, we were in the race, but not really enough to make a massive jump or the top two. But once we put the super-softs on for the final two stints the car came alive, thats where in the end we got the second place. ' ' '