There's a story told about Ben Hogan shooting a round of 68 and then heading straight for the practice ground. Surprised to see him there after such a good score, Jimmy Demaret asked his friend: "What's the problem, Ben? Do you expect to birdie every hole?" Whereupon Hogan replied: "Why not?"

Annika Sorenstam has been thinking this way, since she made history by becoming the first woman professional to break 60, in the Standard Register Ping event in March. "I used to think that to shoot 59, I'd have to hole a wedge from 100 yards or make a few eagles," she said.

"But that's not what happened. Instead, I made 13 birdies. It was as close as I've ever come to matching the Swedish concept of `54-vision' - birdieing every hole. If you have the capacity to birdie every hole, why not birdie them all in the one round? I believe it's possible, especially now that I'm no longer afraid of shooting low scores."