The Original Game » A victories, having won her first title in 2011

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. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys .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. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Online . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Authentic .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. The New York Mets lost an emotional game in Miami as Bartolo Colon had nothing. The Detroit Tigers lost yet again to the division-clinching Cleveland Indians -- theyre 2-14 against them. The St. Louis Cardinals cant win at home. And the Seattle Mariners handed the Houston Astros another late-inning defeat. Just another night of wild-card madness.Current wild-card odds (from FiveThirtyEight):American League Blue Jays: 90 percent Orioles: 65 percent Mariners: 22 percent Tigers: 21 percent Astros: 2 percentNational League Mets: 87 percent Giants: 64 percent Cardinals: 48 percent ' ' '