BIOGRAPHY

Annika Sorenstam is the most dominant player in women’s golf. Throughout her storied career, she has rewritten the LPGA and Ladies European Tour record books, won countless awards and events, and brought unprecedented attention to women’s golf. Her success has changed how women’s golf is played, covered and viewed, and in her rise to mainstream athlete and celebrity, she has had a positive impact on all women’s sports.

CHILDHOOD

Annika was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 9, 1970. Her parents Tom and Gunilla nurtured her love of sports, and she began playing golf at the age of 12. Annika remains close to her family, especially her sister Charlotta, who also plays on the LPGA Tour.

EARLY CAREER

In 1987, Annika joined the Swedish National Golf Team. She credits fellow Swede Liselotte Neumann’s win at the 1988 Women’s Open for heightening her interest in golf. She played in the World Amateur Golf Team Championships in 1990 and in 1992, when she won the Championship.

In the fall of 1990, Annika enrolled at the University of Arizona. She won seven titles during her collegiate career, and became the first foreign and first freshman player to win the individual NCAA Championship. Annika also won the 1991 National Co-Player of the Year, 1992 Pac-10 Champion and was named to the 1991-1992 All-American team. In 1992, she was a runner-up for the National Player of the Year Award and also finished second to Vicki Goetze at the United States Women’s Amateur Golf Championship. The following year, Annika was invited to play in three LPGA events, finishing in the Top Ten in two events and earning over $47,000. She also had four second place finishes on the WPGET (now European Ladies Tour), and was named the 1993 WPGET Rookie of the Year. Tying for 28th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament later that year, she earned non-exempt status for the 1994 season.

LPGA

Annika burst onto the scene in her rookie year with three Top Ten finishes, including a tie for second at the 1994 Weetabix Women’s British Open. Her stellar year was rewarded with the 1994 Rolex Rookie of the Year Award. The following season, Annika won three events, including her first LPGA tour title upon winning the U.S. Women’s Open. She also received the 1995 WPGET Order of Merit, the 1995 Rolex Player of the Year Award, Sweden’s Jerringpriset Award (the country’s most prestigious sports honor) and the Bragd Gold Award for Sports Achievement (voted by the citizens of Sweden). To top off 1995, Annika appeared on a Swedish postage stamp (3.50 Swedish Crowns).

In 1996, Annika again won three events, including the U.S. Women’s Open. She passed the $1 million mark in LPGA career earnings and won her second straight Vare Trophy for lowest season scoring average. 1997 brought six more LPGA victories, a homecoming win in a WPGET event in Sweden and a second Rolex Player of the Year Award. In 1998, Annika won four events, as well as her third Vare Trophy and third Rolex Player of the Year Award. She also became the first player in LPGA history to finish a season with a sub-70 scoring average (69.99). 1998-99 saw seven more victories, her first career hole-in-one, and over $6 million in career earnings. In 2000, Annika began a streak of six seasons in which she posted at least five tournament victories a year.

2001 was an outstanding year for Annika. She won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and seven other LPGA events, set or tied 30 LPGA records, and registered a 59 in the second round of the Standard Register PING. She also became the first LPGA player to total $2 million in season earnings, and won both the Vare Trophy and Rolex Player of the Year Award for the fourth time. She continued her amazing play in 2002, winning her fifth Vare Trophy and Rolex Player of the Year Award. That year she became the second player in LPGA history to win 11 tournaments in a season, and she set or tied 20 LPGA records. Her 11-stroke victory at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic tied an LPGA record for largest margin of victory in a 54-hole event. Including her victories on the Ladies European Tour, Annika won 13 events in only 25 starts.

Annika became the sixth player in LPGA history to complete the LPGA Career Grand Slam in 2003, after winning the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and the Weetabix Women’s British Open. She won five other events worldwide that year, set or tied 22 LPGA records, and received her sixth Rolex Player of the Year Award. Other achievements in 2003 include receiving her second Jerringpriset Award, being named 2003 Female Athlete of the Year by the United States Sports Academy, and receiving the 2003 Golf Writers Trophy from the Association of Golf Writers. Annika also gained worldwide media attention when she played against men at the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, becoming the first woman to play in a PGA event since Babe Dickinson Zaharias in 1945. Although she missed the cut, her participation was seen as a landmark event for all women’s sports. She competed once more with top PGA players in the 2003 Skins Game, finishing second with five skins in a field that included Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara. She also scored the eighth eagle in Skins Game history.

In 2004, Annika had 16 Top Ten finishes in 18 LPGA starts. She won eight events and was named Rolex Player of the Year for the seventh time. She also won two international events and broke her own single-season scoring average record, posting a 68.69.

Annika continued to smash LPGA records in 2005, becoming the only player in LPGA history to sweep the Rolex Player of the Year Award with her eighth win, setting an LPGA record. That year, Annika also won her sixth Vare Trophy and won 10 of her 20 starts, becoming the second player in LPGA history to win 10 or more events in two different seasons. She finished first on the ADT Official Money List for the eighth time in her career— tying an LPGA record— and she won a homecoming event on the Swedish European Ladies Tour. She also won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship for the third consecutive year, becoming the first LPGA player to win a major three times in a row, and then won the Mizuno Classic for the fifth consecutive year to become the first golfer in LPGA history to win an event five years in a row.

In 2006, Annika won the MasterCard Classic and the U.S. Women’s Open, her 10th major title, tying her for the third most wins of all time. She also set an LPGA final round record by shooting a 62 at the State Farm Classic.