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Q+A Fulton Allem The PGA Tour's most politically incorrect player defiantly vents on Annika Sorenstam (again)

SI: You are very, shall we say, outspoken. Don't you think you
should avoid interviews like this?

FA: Mate, they nailed our Lord to the cross for being honest; how
do you think I could escape?

SI: You were one of Annika's shrillest critics heading into the
Colonial. What do you think now that it's over?

FA: You can't put a Clydesdale in the Kentucky Derby and hope to
win. That's all this was.

SI: Your second-round 66, which enabled you to make the cut after
an opening 75, was your lowest score at Colonial since winning
there in 1993. How hard were you grinding to try to pass Annika?

FA: I was really grinding, I tell you that. But you have to
understand that we like to have a bit of fun in our fraternity,
and we like to give the needle. That's all we were doing with
her, giving a bit of the needle.

SI: You shot 74-78 on the weekend to finish last, but did you
still feel vindicated since you were playing and she was watching
on TV?

FA: The great game of golf will always have its say in the end,
and it had its say with her. The great game of golf doesn't lie;
that's what should be written. At the end of the day I'm going to
do what men do, play golf with other men, and she should play
with other women.

SI: Nick Price was also critical of Annika before the tournament,
but he did say that if she had qualified rather than gotten a
sponsor's exemption, he wouldn't have had a problem. Do you feel
the same way?

FA: I would have no problem at all if she had qualified, but a
free pass was not right.

SI: If you had the opportunity to play in an LPGA tournament on a
sponsor's exemption, would you do it, just to try to beat them
all and make some kind of point?

FA: No. That would be not fair to them. For me to play in a
ladies' tournament would offend my sense of fairness, and I would
never do it.

SI: Despite your personal feelings, do you recognize that this
story captured the imagination of the public, and that all the
attention was good for the game?

FA: Mate, all this was was a publicity stunt--a very good
publicity stunt, but a stunt nonetheless. I guess she's a great
champion and all, but the courses we play are way too hard for
her. I must say it was not a realistic dream for her.

COLOR PHOTO: SAM GREENWOOD/ICON SMI (ALLEM) LET 'ER RIP Allem did not welcome a woman to the Tour'sfraternity.