Our Daily Diary author, Laura Neal.

Luckily, "American Idol" ended at 9 p.m. central time, allowing me to get to bed early in preparation for a very early wake-up call. I was in the press room by 7:30 this morning, but I still didn't beat half of the media to the course. Annika was on the chipping green when I got here. Fans were lined around the ropes to watch her practice. Her caddie Terry McNamara waved at me and then pointed me out to Annika. She gave a big smile and a wave. I ran over and asked her to sign my hat. Just kidding.

Seriously, it was slightly surreal. People turned and looked at me, like, "Who is Annika waving at?" And for a second I forgot that she is really just another LPGA player that I've worked with for years. She was a celebrity and I was a fan. Then I stepped in one of the mud puddles in front of the media center and came back to earth.

For the next hour and a half, I was at my desk trying to work while getting knocked in the back of the head and trampled on by the line forming behind me. Media have to sign in every day for special credentials (big stickers) that allow them access inside the ropes. Not everyone gets one of these credentials, it depends on what outlet you work for. Of course, just about everyone wants to be inside the ropes with Annika, but with 600 reporters, that is obviously impossible. So you can just imagine the rush for a coveted inside-the-ropes pass this morning before Annika teed off.

I didn't even need to look at my watch to see what time it was. Suddenly, the media center turned in to a ghost town. It must be time! I made my way outside to the first tee, just in time to hear Annika's name announced. The crowd erupted. She took a couple deep breaths, stepped up to the ball with her trusty 4-wood and nailed her drive right down the middle-and out-drove both of her playing partners! Granted, they were hitting irons, but still, it was spectacular. Annika kind of did a little stagger walk, like, "Whew, thank heavens that's over."

She was all smiles walking off the tee, and the crowd was going nuts, yelling things like, "You go girl!" "Go Annika!" and my personal favorite, "You da man!"

I won't do any kind of play-by-play here, as I'm assuming you weren't under a rock today. Needless to say, Annika was unbelievable. When she rolled in that 15-footer from the fringe for birdie on 13 (her fourth hole), the few of us NOT on the course with Annika cheered in the media center. And that doesn't happen very often-reporters are impartial, remember? You could just feel the support for Annika everywhere you went.

And Annika certainly embraced the crowd in return. I've never seen her so animated on the golf course. It might not be a conscious decision on her part, and I guess I'm really only speculating, but it's as if she realizes this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and she's not going to miss a moment of it. Too often, we get so caught up on our goals, we forget to enjoy the journey. I think it's great that Annika is enjoying the journey and allowing us all to enjoy it right along with her.

Annika finished with a bogey, but it didn't dampen the appreciation of her performance today. Again, the interview room was absolutely packed, quite possibly with more reporters than on Tuesday. While she was doing her press conference, I had to track down Terry because the media needed her club selection-for the entire round (you can check out my notes on her club selection in Annika's "Real-Time Scorecard" section).

I found Terry relaxing in the locker room. I asked him how it went and he said, "It was amazing. But I'm drained." No kidding. He should try getting through security into the ladies locker room! Talk about draining. Anyway, I'm always amazed at how easily caddies and players can recall every single club from a round. Terry rattled them off like Rainman (I guess it's harder for those of us who take twice as many shots).

Annika walked in shortly thereafter and sank right down on the couch. You could tell she was happy, relieved, exhausted, exhilarated-probably feeling every emotion conceivable. For me and all of her fans, you can add pride to that list.