Stockholm, Sweden
2003
72
10
1994 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, Eight-time Rolex Player of the Year (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005), Five-time Vare Trophy Recipient (1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005)
2003
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Annika Sorenstam was an all-around athlete as a junior. She shared her first set of clubs with sister Charlotta at age 12. She had a successful amateur career that included playing in the 1990 and 1992 Espirito Santo Trophy, winning the individual competition in 1992, and won three tournaments during 1990-91 on the Swedish Golf Tour. She was also a member of the Swedish National Team from 1987-92. Sorenstam went on to play college golf at the University of Arizona, winning seven collegiate events including the 1991 NCAA Division I Individual Champion as a freshman.
Sorenstam turned pro in 1992 and started her career on the Ladies European Tour. She earned LET Rookie of the Year honors in ’93, and later won the LET Order of Merit in 1995 as well as the LET Player of the Year award in ’95 and '02. She officially began her LPGA Tour career in 1994, earning Rookie of the Year Honors despite not winning in her first season. Her first victory came at the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open, her first of 10 major championship titles and three wins that season. She also became the first non-American to win the Vare Trophy that year. She would go on to win a total of 72 times on the LPGA Tour, with her last win coming at the 2008 Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill.
Sorenstam currently ranks third on the LPGA Tour’s All-Time Official Wins List and first on the Career Money List with over $22 million in official earnings. She is the only LPGA Tour player to ever win the Money List, Player of the Year and Vare Trophy in the same year for five different seasons. In 2001, she became the only female professional golfer to shoot a 59 in Tour competition at the Standard Register Ping. Included in her record-breaking career was her appearance at the PGA Tour’s Bank of America Colonial in 2003, making her the first woman to play a PGA Tour event since Babe Zaharias who qualified for the Los Angeles Open. She also played on eight Solheim Cup teams for Europe (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007) and was a non-playing captain in 2017. She retired after the conclusion of the 2008 season. She was World No. 1 when the Rolex Rankings were established in 2006 and spent a total of 61 weeks at the top spot in her career.
Before her retirement, she was officially inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame through the points criteria and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003. Her other honors include GWAA Female Player of the Year (five times), the 2003 Patty Berg Award, the Bob Jones Award in 2012, the Old Tom Morris Award in 2014, the first female membership of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2021. Sorenstam played her first LPGA Tour event as a competitor in 2021 since retirement at the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA, making the cut and finishing in 74th. She then went on to play the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, winning in her debut.
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