All was not lost when Annika Sorenstam missed the cut at the Colonial.

The two-day publicity stunt that incorporated her vast golf talents, whether Sorenstam officially endorsed it or not, was swimmingly successful.

Think about it. Those of us who enjoy golf but limit our sports television viewing to events that are mildly intriguing put away the remote control only for the final round of the four major championships.

Men’s championships, that is. Twenty bucks if you can name even three of the four women’s majors without peeking.

In spite of those ground rules, at 9:58 a.m. Thursday, you and I watched. We all watched, or at least we checked out every highlight show Thursday night to find out what happened when Sorenstam teed off with two unknowns named Aaron Barber and Dean Wilson at a time-tested but mundane PGA Tour stop in Fort Worth, Texas.

What happened was simple and utterly predictable to anyone who doesn’t swear allegiance to Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” as the national anthem.

Sorenstam, who is as powerful and accurate a female golfer as has ever lived, played well but not well enough on a tricked-up, par-70 layout built to reward brute strength.

No concessions were made. Sorenstam didn’t ask for any. And nothing she did was damaging to the cause of women’s golf.

What she couldn’t accomplish, however, was eliminating the labels. That wasn’t her goal, anyhow.

For the foreseeable future, there will be a PGA Tour for men and an LPGA Tour for women.

And you know what? That’s OK.

It means there are two good products out there. Both play the same game. Watched separately, there are no immediately discernible differences between the two.

Drive for show, chip it pin-high, putt for dough. When it’s done well, it’s a beautiful thing to watch whether the practitioner is Annika Sorenstam or Tiger Woods.

Sadly, our society is so bent on cramming the mythical battle of the sexes up our nose that we aren’t allowed to appreciate women’s sports on their own merits.

Too many members of the political correctness police force spend too much time speculating how the premier women in each sport would fare against the leading men.

In their prime, it’s usually no contest. There are physical differences between men and women. I know, shocking stuff. Argue all you want, but don’t argue with me. Take it up with God.

Tennis recognizes this, which makes its collective level of common sense a tad higher than golf’s.

When Billie Jean King championed the cause of women’s sports, she uncovered the perfect foil in a geriatric bigmouth named Bobby Riggs.

You can bet that when the Women’s Tennis Association decides to exploit Venus and Serena Williams in an us-versus-them match – and in the aftermath of Sorenstam’s golfing adventure, it will happen – the organizers will comb the four corners of the earth to find Ilie Nastase and Yannick Noah. Or the McEnroe brothers. Or two reasonable, has-been facsimiles.

On one hand, it’s tempting to applaud the people who pushed for Sorenstam to receive and accept this sponsor’s exemption into the Colonial. Then again, there’s no doubt that her agent and the LPGA itself received precisely what it wanted from this exhibition, cut or no cut.

The LPGA knows it has a marketable commodity in Sorenstam, who has never said anything to indicate that she has a chip on her shoulder related to the first letter in that acronym. The sanctioning body also recognizes that word about her abilities wasn’t getting out, in part because the LPGA has marketed itself more poorly than any league or organization in professional sports for years. Its events attract similar television audiences to cliff diving and sumo wrestling, for crying out loud.

At a time when interest in women’s sports is at an all-time high, remaining mired in mediocrity made no sense.

Sorenstam’s two days on the front page of every sports section in the country probably did more for women’s golf than Patty Sheehan’s entire career. To the Swede’s credit, she handled the attention and the defeat like a champion. She announced that she intends to go back to being the champion she is, on a level playing field.

Let’s hope she is allowed to do so in peace. Let’s also hope that her experience persuades other great female athletes to just say no when a promoter, lobbyist or advisor with an agenda tries to lure them into a war of futility.

Kalle Oakes is sports editor. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].