Sörenstam, Annika

Annika Sörenstam is one of the greatest female athletes in history and the most successful and famous woman golfer in 21st-century history. Before she retired from professional golf in December 2008, Sörenstam won 72 Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournaments and 17 European tournaments-a total of 89 golf tournament wins around the world. Based on her talent and success, Sörenstam is the first player in LPGA history to cross the $20 million threshold of career earnings, and in 2001, her score of 59 in an official LPGA tournament was and still is the lowest score in female golf history. Her fame as a woman golfer parallels the fame of male golfers Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 9, 1970, to Gunilla and Tom Sörenstam, Sörenstam was a natural athlete, who started playing golf at age 12. In 1987, she became a member of the Swedish National Golf Team, and in 1990 she played golf as a freshman at the University of Arizona. The following year, Sörenstam won seven collegiate titles and was the first non-American to win the NCAA U.S. National Golf Championship. In 1992, after winning the World Amateur championship, she became a professional golfer.

Annika Sorenstam plays the 2008 LPGA Championship, prior to announcing it would be her final season on the LPGA Tour.

During the next 16 years, Sörenstam rewrote the LPGA and Ladies European record books, and her success has improved women's golf. Sörenstam's dominance, talent, and determination in the sport enabled her to set a multitude of scoring records and earn 10 Major wins from 1995 to 2006. She won a record eight Player of the Year awards; six Vare trophies (awarded to the LPGA player with the lowest average strokes per round for the season); and three Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year awards in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She also earned one-third of all LPGA records.

In 2003, not only was Sörenstam inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame based on her tremendous LPGA win record, but she also made international [Page 1377]headlines when she played in the Colonial Golf Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, becoming the first woman since Babe Zaharias qualified for the 1945 Los Angeles Open to play against men in a PGA event.

As an elite athlete, Sörenstam successfully transitioned from professional golfer to entrepreneur the last few years of her career. In April 2007, she opened her Annika Academy golf instruction and training center near Orlando, Florida. In addition to helping others improve their golf abilities, she continues to design golf courses around the world. On a personal note, Sörenstam and her husband, Mike McGee, had a baby girl named Ava on September 1, 2009. Sörenstam's dedication, strong work ethic, mental toughness, competitive spirit, and near flawless golf technique have made her a hero for men and women around the globe.