Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (pronounced [ˈǎnːɪka ˈsœ̂ːrɛnˌstam] ; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish and American professional golfer regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 96 international professional tournaments, making her the female golfer with the most wins to her name. She has won 72 official LPGA tournaments including ten majors and 24 other tournaments internationally.
In 2003, she joined an elite club, completing the career grand slam with victories at each of the four majors so recognized during her prime. Also in 2003, Sörenstam competed in the Bank of America Colonial tournament to become the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945.
Representing Europe in the Solheim Cup on eight occasions between 1994 and 2007, Sörenstam was the event's all-time leading points earner until her record was surpassed by England's Laura Davies during the 2011 Solheim Cup. Sörenstam also was captain of the 2017 European Solheim Cup team.
Despite retiring from regular tournament golf in 2008, as of the end of 2022, she still topped the LPGA's career money list with earnings of over $22 million—over $2 million ahead of her nearest rival while playing 187 fewer events. After turning 50, she came back from her retirement and added a win in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women's Open.
The winner of a record eight Player of the Year awards, and six Vare Trophies given to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average, she still holds various all-time scoring records including the lowest season scoring average: 68.6969 in 2004. Sörenstam is the only female golfer to shoot a 59 in competition.
On 7 January 2021, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump.
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Early life
She was born in Bro near Stockholm, Sweden. Sörenstam's father Tom was an IBM executive and her mother Gunilla worked in a bank. Her younger sister Charlotta also became a professional golfer and LPGA Tour winner, and, after her playing career, coached at her sister's academy. Annika and Charlotta Sörenstam became the first two sisters to both win $1 million on the LPGA Tour.
As a child, Sörenstam was a talented all-around athlete. She was a nationally ranked junior tennis player, played association football (soccer) for her hometown team and excelled in skiing to such an extent that the coach of the Swedish national ski team suggested the family move to northern Sweden to improve her skiing year round.
The Sörenstam family began playing golf at Viksjö Golf Club in Jakobsberg, north of Stockholm, and later switched to nearby Bro-Bålsta Golf Club, opened in 1980, initially with a 9-hole course. At the age of 12, Annika shared her first set of golf clubs with her sister. Annika got the odd numbered clubs and Charlotta the even - and earned her first handicap of 54.
At the European Tour tournament Scandinavian Enterprise Open in Stockholm in July 1986, she tried to be a volunteer caddie and was asked to stand in a line with all other candidates. When all male volunteer caddies finally had been chosen by the tournament professionals, three teen-age girls were left without a bag yet. It was Annika, Charlotta and Fanny Sunesson.
She was so shy as a junior, she used to deliberately three-putt at the end of a tournament to avoid giving the victory speech. The coaches noticed and at the next tournament both the winner and the runner-up had to give a speech. Sörenstam decided that if she were going to have to face the crowd anyway she might as well win and the deliberate misses stopped.
Amateur career
Her successful amateur career included a win in the St Rule Trophy played at St Andrews and a runner-up finish in the Swedish national mother/daughter Championship. As a member of the Swedish National Team from 1987 to 1992, she played in the 1990 and 1992 Espirito Santo Trophy, winning the individual competition in 1992. While waiting to start college in Sweden, Sörenstam worked as a personal assistant at the Swedish PGA and played on the Swedish Golf Tour, winning three tournaments during 1990/1991.
After a coach spotted Sörenstam playing in a collegiate event in Tokyo, she moved to the U.S. to play college golf at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She won seven collegiate titles and in 1991, became the first non-American and first freshman to win the individual NCAA Division I Championship. Sörenstam was 1991 NCAA Co-Player of the Year with Kelly Robbins, runner-up in the 1992 NCAA championship, 1992 Pac-10 champion and a 1991–92 NCAA All-American. She qualified for the U.S. Women's Open at Oakmont in July, made the cut, and tied for 63rd. A few weeks later at the U.S. Women's Amateur at Kemper Lakes near Chicago, she was the runner-up to Vicki Goetze, bogeying the last hole in the 36-hole final.
Professional career
Ladies European Tour
Sörenstam turned professional in 1992, but missed her LPGA Tour card at the final qualifying tournament by one shot, and began her professional career on the Ladies European Tour (LET), formerly known as the WPGET. She was invited to play in three LPGA Tour events in 1993, where she finished T38th, 4th, and T9th, earning more than $47,000. She finished second four times on the Ladies European Tour and was 1993 Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year. By tying for 28th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament she earned non-exempt status for the 1994 season. Sörenstam's first professional win came at the 1994 Holden Women's Australian Open on the ALPG Tour.
LPGA Tour
In the United States, Sörenstam was LPGA Rookie of the Year, had three top-10 finishes including a tie for second at the Women's British Open and made her Solheim Cup debut. Her breakout year was 1995, when she won her first LPGA Tour title at the U.S. Women's Open. She finished at the top of the Money List and was the first non-American winner of the Vare Trophy. She became the second player ever to be Player of the Year and Vare Trophy winner the year after being Rookie of the Year. A win at the 1995 Australian Ladies Masters and two other wins on the Ladies European Tour put her top of the LET Order of Merit and made her the first player to top both the European and LPGA Tour money lists in the same season. Her success worldwide resulted in her winning the Jerringpriset award in Sweden, as well as being awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal, the country's most prestigious award in sports.
1996 saw Sörenstam win her home LET tournament, the Trygg Hansa Ladies' Open in Sweden and three LPGA tournaments including the U.S. Women's Open. In defending her title, she became the first non-American to win back to back U.S. Women's Open titles, passed the $1 million mark in LPGA career earnings, and won her second consecutive Vare Trophy.
She won six tour events in 1997, regaining the money list and player of the year titles. Internationally, she won on the JLPGA and defended her home LET title at the renamed Compaq Open. She became the first player in LPGA history to finish a season with a sub-70 scoring average of 69.99 en route to retaining the 1998 Player of the Year and Money List titles as well as winning the LET Swedish tour stop for the third time running. September 1999 saw Sörenstam change her on-course team replacing her caddie of six years, Colin Cann, with Terry McNamara.
At this point in her career, Sörenstam says she lost focus having reached her biggest goals. Karrie Webb became the best LPGA Tour player but Sörenstam still managed to win more LPGA tournaments than any other LPGA Tour player during the 1990s. She qualified for the World Golf Hall of Fame when she won the 2000 Welch's/Circle K Championship, but was not eligible for induction until finishing her tenth year on the LPGA tour in October 2003. Sörenstam was the first international player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame through the LPGA criteria.
Having lost her preeminent position, Sörenstam embarked on a new five-day-a-week exercise program including weight-lifting and balance work which by 2003 added over 20 yards (18 m) to her driving distance. During the 2001 season, she had eight LPGA wins, became the only female golfer to shoot a 59 in competition and the first LPGA player to cross the $2 million mark in single-season earnings. She set or tied a total of 30 LPGA records en route to regaining the Vare Trophy and winning her fourth Player of the Year and Money List titles in 2001. In a made-for-TV alternate shot competition between the two best male and female players in the world, Sörenstam and Tiger Woods beat Karrie Webb and David Duval.
Retirement
On 13 May 2008, Sörenstam announced at a press conference at the Sybase Classic that she would "step away" from competitive golf at the conclusion of the 2008 season. That night, she threw out the first pitch of the Washington Nationals/New York Mets baseball game at Shea Stadium in New York and the following day read the Top Ten on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Her last tournament victory came in a playoff at the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open, an event co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the Ladies Asian Golf Tour tour. Her last scheduled tournament on the LPGA Tour was the season-ending ADT Championship in November, where she failed to make the weekend play in the event's unique playoff structure. Her final sanctioned LPGA appearance was as the winning captain of Team International at the 2008 Lexus Cup in Singapore. Her last professional tournament was the Dubai Ladies Masters on the Ladies European Tour in December 2008, where she finished tied for 7th.
Solheim Cup captaincy
At the 2013 Solheim Cup at the Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colorado, United States, Sörenstam participated as a non-playing assistant captain, selected by European Team captain Liselotte Neumann. During the match, the Americans accused Sörenstam of telling a European caddie that European player Jodi Ewart Shadoff should concede a putt for par to Paula Creamer, so it could not show teammate Lexi Thompson the line for a coming putt. By the rules, only the captain was allowed to give advice to players during the competition. In the end, the 2013 match became an 18–10 triumph for the European team, winning on American soil for the first time and defending the cup for the first time.
For the 2015 Solheim Cup at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot, Germany, Sörenstam again was appointed an assistant captain by a Swedish European Team captain, this time Carin Koch. Two controversies with Sörenstam involved, given a lot of public attention, occurred during the match. The second day afternoon four-ball match between Suzann Pettersen and Charley Hull for Europe against Alison Lee and Brittany Lincicome, United States, was all square, when Lee missed a putt to win the 17th hole. Taking for granted that the next 18-inch putt was conceded, Lee picked up her ball. However, Pettersen pointed out that it was not conceded, and the Europeans won the hole. Koch and Sörenstam tried to convince Pettersen to change her mind and concede the putt, but as it was a fact that Lee had picked up her ball without the putt being given to her, it was not a possibility within the rules of golf, for the players to agree on the outcome of the hole and change the sequence of events afterwards. Pettersen/Hull eventually won the match.
Later during the 2015 Solheim Cup, after Koch and Sörenstam was seen in a discussion with U.S. captain Juli Inkster, Sörenstam explained that she was accused of giving advice, which she strongly denied. The 2015 match ended in a U.S. win 141⁄2–131⁄2, after a strong American come-back the last day, said to have been inspired by the incident with the not conceded putt.
Sörenstam was appointed captain of the 2017 European Solhem Cup team. The match, played at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, Iowa, United States, was won by the U.S. team 161⁄2–111⁄2.
Senior career
After turning 50 in October 2020, Sörenstam became eligible for the 2021 U.S. Senior Women's Open. It was played at Brooklawn Country Club, Fairfield, Connecticut and Sörenstam won by 8 shots, ahead of fellow countrywoman Liselotte Neumann after leading the tournament wire to wire, with her husband Mike McGee as her caddie. Ahead of the Senior Open, she played her first LPGA Tour event since 2008, finishing 74th at the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.
Her win at the Senior Open qualified her to play in the 2022 U.S. Women's Open, at which she missed the cut by shooting 13-over.
Awards and honors
In 1994, Sörenstam earned Elite Sign No. 98 by the Swedish Golf Federation, on the basis of national team appearances and national championship performances.
In 1998, Sörenstam was awarded honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.
In four years, 2005-2008, Sörenstam was host for a Ladies European Tour tournament in Sweden, Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika. She won the tournament twice herself during those years and another four times before that.
In 2012, Sörenstam founded the ANNIKA Invitational Europe, an annual amateur golf tournament in Sweden for European girls under 18. The tournament is a qualifying event for the European team in the Junior Solheim Cup since 2015 and has been rated up to level "A" in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
In 2014, the LPGA established the yearly Rolex Annika Major Award, named after Sörenstam, to recognize the overall best performance in the LPGA majors. Points are award for top-10 finishes in each major. The major winner with the most points at the end of the season wins the award.
In February 2015, Sörenstam became one of seven women, invited as the first female honorary members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The other six women were HRH Princess Anne, Dame Laura Davies, Renee Powell, Belle Robertson, Lally Segard and Louise Suggs.
On 2 December 2020, Sörenstam was appointed president of the International Golf Federation from 1 January 2021.
On 7 January 2021, three golfers: Sörenstam, Gary Player, and Babe Zaharias (posthumously), received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump. At the time a number of national outlets criticized the golfers for accepting their medals the day after the January 6 United States Capitol attack, for which President Trump was later impeached. The following week New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick turned down a similar offer of the Medal. Sörenstam acknowledged that she received negative feedback for accepting the award and that she was "sad about January 6th in American history" but that the awards ceremony had been planned months before and she preferred to not second-guess past events and to move forward.
Business career
Sörenstam began the transition from professional golfer to entrepreneur during the later years of her career, attempting to combine golf, fitness and charitable works into various businesses under the ANNIKA brand with the brand statement "Share my Passion". They are all promoted by her website on which there is a blog to which she and her staff regularly contribute.
Golf course design
Since 2003, Sörenstam has also worked as a golf course architect, undertaken a number of course design projects. Her first, the Annika Course, was completed at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China, in 2003; the second was officially launched in January 2006 and opened in 2008 at Euphoria Golf Estate & Hydro in South Africa. In 2008 she also announced a new project at Mines Golf City, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Projects closer to home include a redesign of the Patriots Point Links Course near Charleston, South Carolina and a course at Red Mountain Resort, British Columbia.
She and Jack Nicklaus lost out on a bid to build the Olympic golf course in Rio to Gil Hanse and his consultant Amy Alcott. In 2010, a golf course she designed was opened in South Korea at Golden Bay Resort. This was the first project for her after-retirement golf course design.
In an interview with CNN in October 2017, Sörenstam spoke about the difficulties of being a woman in the golf course design industry, saying that a common stereotype is that courses she designs will be "short and easy".
The ANNIKA Academy
The ANNIKA Academy at Ginn Reunion Resort in Reunion, Florida began construction in 2006 and opened in April 2007 with Sörenstam's longtime coach Henri Reis serving as head instructor, her sister Charlotta an instructor and club fitter, her personal trainer Kai Fusser focusing on overall fitness training, and with Sörenstam available for coaching on certain golfing packages. The opening ceremony included a Make-A-Wish Foundation golf clinic conducted by Sörenstam who is a United States ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and it also hosted clinics for junior golfers during The Annika Invitational, an American Junior Golf Association invitation-only event featuring the top 60 girls from around the world hosted by The ANNIKA Foundation.
The Annika Academy closed in May 2016.
Other business ventures
Other branches of the ANNIKA business include a clothing line with Cutter & Buck, a limited label wine produced in partnership with Wente Vineyards, and a signature fragrance developed by SA Fragrances. Sörenstam also hosted the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika, an event on the LPGA Tour in 2007 and 2008, and the Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika on the Ladies European Tour during its last four years from 2005 through 2008. She won the latter tournament in 2005 and 2006.
One of Sörenstam's hobbies is cooking. She has participated in cooking demonstrations during LPGA tournaments and has talked about enrolling in cooking school. Before the 2003 season Sörenstam took the opportunity to improve her culinary skills by working eight-hour shifts in the kitchens of the Lake Nona Country Club. Sörenstam has had a serious interest in investments, real estate and the stock market since she earned her first LPGA check and in August 2006 was invited to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Personal life
Sörenstam met her first husband David Esch in 1994 on the driving range at Moon Valley Country Club, Phoenix, Arizona, where she was an LPGA rookie practicing for a tournament and he worked for club manufacturer Ping. They were engaged at the 1995 Evian Masters, and married in Lake Tahoe on 4 January 1997. They divorced in 2005.
In August 2007, Sörenstam became engaged to Mike McGee, the managing director for the ANNIKA brand of businesses and son of former PGA Tour and Champions Tour player Jerry McGee. They married at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida, on 10 January 2009.
Their daughter Ava Madelyn McGee was born 1 September 2009. On 21 March 2011, Sörenstam gave birth to a son, William Nicholas McGee, thirteen weeks premature.
Since 2006, Sörenstam has held dual American and Swedish citizenship.
Amateur wins
1991 NCAA Division I Championship Individual title
1992 Espirito Santo Trophy Individual title
Professional wins (97)
LPGA Tour wins (72)
LPGA Tour playoff record (16–6)
Sources:
LPGA majors are shown in bold.
Note: Sörenstam won the Bank of Montreal Canadian Women's Open (formerly named the du Maurier Classic) in 2001, the year after it stopped being recognized as a major championship on the LPGA Tour.
Ladies European Tour wins (17)
Ladies European Tour playoff record (3–0)
Sources:
Note: Sörenstam won The Evian Championship (formerly named the Evian Masters) twice before it was recognized as a major championship on the LPGA Tour in 2013.
ALPG Tour wins (4)
ALPG Tour playoff record (1–1)
LPGA of Japan Tour wins (7)
Source:
Swedish Golf Tour wins (4)
Source:
Other wins (2)
Notes
1 Co-sanctioned by LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour
2 Co-sanctioned by LPGA Tour and LPGA of Japan Tour
3 Co-sanctioned by ALPG Tour and Ladies European Tour
4 54-hole tournament shortened to 45 holes
5 Unofficial-money tournament on the LPGA Tour
6 Team event and unofficial-money tournament on the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour
Legends Tour wins (1)
Sources:
Major championships
Wins (10)
1 Defeated Grace Park with par on first extra hole 2 Defeated Hurst in 18-hole playoff: Sörenstam (70), Hurst (74)
Results timeline
^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001
^^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place
Summary
Most consecutive cuts made – 24 (2003 Kraft Nabisco − 2008 British Open)
Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (4 times)
LPGA Tour record
^ As of 2023 season
* Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.
† Not official in LPGA records, 307 tournaments played, 296 cuts made, 207 top-10s
World ranking
Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
On 5 January 2009, Sörenstam, who was ranked third the previous week despite having announced her retirement effective at the end of the 2008 season, was removed from the rankings. No official explanation was given for her removal. Sörenstam later posted in her personal blog that she asked to be removed.
Team appearances
Amateur
European Lady Junior's Team Championship (representing Sweden): 1990 (winners)
Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Sweden): 1990, 1992 (individual winner)
European Ladies' Team Championship (representing Sweden): 1991
Professional
Solheim Cup (representing Europe): 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 (winners), 2002, 2003 (winners), 2005, 2007, 2017 (non-playing captain)
Lexus Cup (representing International team): 2005 (playing captain, winners), 2006 (playing captain), 2007 (playing captain), 2008 (playing captain, winners)
World Cup (representing Sweden): 2006 (winners)
Sources:
Awards
Sources: