First problem: it's raining and about 62 degrees. I've crossed Heather Bowie off my Christmas card list, since she told me last week that it was going to be beautiful weather, 80 degrees and breezy. Heather lives about a mile from Colonial Country Club, but I guess that doesn't make her a meteorologist. She's offered to loan me a rain jacket for the week at least, but right now I'm bundled up in the media center feeling very sorry for the players who have to trudge around today in the rain.

Where to begin? It's exciting to finally be here after so many months of speculation. When Annika announced her decision to play the Bank of America Colonial, May 19 was just another date on the calendar. It seemed like a lifetime away. Now we're all here and ready to watch her make history.

I arrived late Monday afternoon and wasn't able to get to the golf course, but Annika came out to practice at about 6 p.m. I turned on the TV in my hotel room just in time to catch one of the reporters on the local news stations saying something like, "We are here at Colonial Country Club. Rumor has it that Annika Sorenstam is on her way to the golf course. No sighting just yet, but we are eagerly awaiting her arrival." The camera panned around to about 80 members of the media waiting on the front steps of the clubhouse, cameras poised, pens ready. It was fantastic, like Jennifer Lopez arriving at the Grammys or something.

Don't get me wrong, I completely think Annika deserves the attention. In fact, I think she deserves it every week. I kept thinking to myself, she "arrives" at our tournaments all the time! She won 13 events last year! The paparazzi should be following her all the time! But it was truly fantastic to watch-the doors to a mini-van parted, Annika stepped out and the cameras flashed like lightning. Annika seemed a little in awe of the attention, but responded well to the media and signed as many autographs as possible.

Annika came back to the course this morning at about 6:30 a.m. to register and hit the range before her practice round at 8 a.m. Needless to say, she beat me to the course! I arrived at 8 a.m. and she was just teeing off with Jesper Parnevik and Sergio Garcia. Unfortunately, the light drizzle turned into a downpour and lightning started flashing (or were those cameras?), and play was suspended. Annika got only three shots off before heading to the locker room (yes, she gets a whole locker room to herself) for a few hours to dry off.

You can't even imagine the media center this week. With 580 credentialed media (for comparison, I was told there are 500 media in Iraq covering the conflict), the Bank of America Colonial had to expand the area to accommodate every one. It's four times larger than the media center was last year. I am sitting in the back of the room with the PGA Tour media officials and there are at least 12 rows of tables in front of me, each seating 16 reporters. It would be impossible to read or watch every report filed from this room during the week.

The thunderstorm lasted throughout the morning, so we moved Annika's press conference to 12:30 (from 2 p.m.) in order to allow her to get back on the course when the rain stopped. On a side note, Annika's playing partners for Thursday and Friday came in for a quick press conference at noon. Dean Wilson and Aaron Barber couldn't have been more supportive. Dean actually bought a "Go Annika" button from the pro shop this morning for $3 and wore it to the press conference.

Annika arrived for her press conference right on schedule. It was the first time I had seen her all week, and she was all smiles. She gave me a hug and asked how I was doing. Then as we walked into the interview area, with the hallway lined with photographers, she looked over, smiled and said, "Pretty big, huh?"

It certainly was. The interview area seats 300, and every chair was filled. Reporters lined the walls and there were at least 40 TV cameras in the back of the room. Intimidating? I would have thought so, but Annika was magnificent. She answered every question with ease and made everyone laugh on more than one occasion. The best was when someone asked what Jesper and Sergio said to her on the first hole.

"We were just trying to figure out what kind of match we were going to play. And Jesper asked me how many shots I wanted. I told him I'm not here to get any shots. And he didn't say much more after that."

Hysterical. I think it's great that so many people, most of whom don't necessarily cover the LPGA Tour on a regular basis, got to see her in that environment. She was well-spoken, witty, engaging and honest. I would find it hard to believe that anyone who sat in on her press conference would be rooting against her to do well.

I've spent most of my time here answering questions and scheduling interviews. I've even had to do a couple myself, which is an interesting twist for me. I've been at the LPGA for five years, for the most part asking players to do interviews, so being on the other side has been a real change of pace. Hopefully I can remember some of the pointers I've given out over the years!

I look forward to keeping you updated throughout the week. I'll try to get you some info you might not catch anywhere else, but with 580 reporters here, that's a tall order!