Annika Sorenstam

Annika Sorenstam may not be bringing new fans to golf in droves like Tiger Woods or Michelle Wie, but for followers of women’s golf and the LPGA, Sorenstam readily comes to mind as one of the games finest performers. Her steady record of excellence began in 1993, and continues unabated to this day. She won the Rookie of the Year award for her tournament performance, and nearly ten years later, in 2003, was another kind of rookie, being the first woman in over fifty years to compete in a PGA event. Her LPGA performance has been dominating, record setting, and breathtaking.

Annika Sorenstam was born October 9, 1970, and is a native of Sweden, although she attended the University of Arizona to improve her golf game. She was already playing for the Swedish national team when she moved to Arizona, and her experience playing with their excellent university team guaranteed she would be a potent force on the links upon turning pro. It would be in 1995, less than two years after joining the league, that she would score her first tournament victory, and there would be many more to follow.

While the press was watching Tiger, Annika Sorenstam was charging ahead with her own drives, racking up over sixty career LPGA wins, including an astounding eleven in the year 2002. She has won Rolex’s player of the year award several years running, among other distinctions. She set an LPGA record in 2001 with her score of 59 on a 72-par course, and had a respectable showing at her precedent-setting PGA appearance, though she did not advance beyond the first round.

Annika Sorenstam has been qualified for the Hall of Fame since the year 2003, and continues to play world-class golf. She has published an autobiography packed with golf tips, and has been married since 1997.