Fort Worth, Texas ? Who knew there were still so many male chauvinist pigs in our midst? Who could have predicted that so many would object when they heard that Annika Sorenstam would actually desecrate the hallowed grass of Colonial and walk where “The Hawk” once walked?

By now you’ve heard them squealing from one end of the country to the other.

Here’s a few words for those self-styled golf “purists” who are so indignant that the venerated Colonial would stoop to invite a woman to play in its sacred tournament:

You make me sick.

And the sickest thing is that these critics would use the argument that Sorenstam will somehow do irreversible damage to the LPGA Tour if she doesn’t play well at Colonial. Even Tiger Woods has fallen into that trap.

“It will only be good for women’s golf if she plays well,” Woods said when asked about his reaction to Sorenstam playing at Colonial. “If she puts up two high scores, it will be more detrimental than good.”

Horse hockey!

She only has to step onto the first tee box at Colonial to bring more attention to the LPGA Tour than it has ever received from any of its own events.

How many men on the PGA Tour could say they would show as much courage as it takes for Sorenstam for show up here and take on the men? She could be playing at the LPGA’s Corning Open on the same weekend, where, it’s safe to say, she would be the odds-on favorite to walk away with the $150,000 winner’s check.

She could stay nice and cozy in her comfort zone. Or she can step out where no woman has walked since Babe Zaharias in the LA Open in 1945.

“I love to push myself,” Sorenstam told USA Today. “I love to compare it to a rubber band. I want to see how far I can stretch this thing. I’m only doing this because I’m curious. It’s a challenge.”

What really burns me is that the same people who are railing that Sorenstam will damage the LPGA are the same chauvinists who don’t believe that women can compete on the same golf course as the men anyway.

So how can she damage the credibility of the LPGA to those people? The reality is, she has nothing to lose, and if she actually plays well, makes the cut, finishes in the top 20, she will gain new-found respect for the women’s tour.

Maybe that’s what the “pigs” are afraid of, when you get right down to it.

And here’s my question for Tiger: Annika has the guts to show up and play here. Do you?