By the time the 2001 season rolled around, Annika Sorenstam had already had an impeccable professional golf career by anyone’s standards.

She had claimed over 20 LPGA Tour titles, won back-to-back U.S. Women’s Opens in 1995 and 1996, earned Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors, captured the Rolex Player of the Year award three times, collected three Vare Trophies and been a member of four European Solheim Cup Teams in her first eight seasons with the LPGA Tour.

But it was March 16, 2001, when the Swede became one of one in the LPGA Tour record books.

After picking up her first victory since July 2000 at the 2001 Welch’s/Circle K Championship the week before, Sorenstam traveled to Phoenix, Ariz., for the Standard Register PING, held at Moon Valley Country Club. She opened with a 7-under 65 on Thursday, but it was the second round that would ultimately see a then 30-year-old Sorenstam make history.

She began her day on the par-5 10th hole at Moon Valley and birdied the first eight holes of her round to get to 8-under on the day, parring 18 to turn in 28, one of the lowest nine-hole scores ever recorded on Tour at that point. She then made four more birdies on holes one through four, and after parring the fifth, sixth and seventh holes, Sorenstam picked up one more birdie on the par-5 8th hole and a par on the last to finish at 12-under total, becoming the first and only woman in Tour history to shoot a 59.

Annika Sorenstam celebrating her 59

It was a 13-birdie performance that earned Sorenstam the nickname Ms. 59 and one that ultimately lifted her to her 25th LPGA Tour title that week at the Standard Register PING. No player has since been able to match Sorenstam’s effort that day in Arizona, although many have come close, with a handful of 60s and several 61s being posted over the last two decades. The 13 birdies she carded at Moon Valley Country Club is also still the record for most birdies made in a single round on the LPGA Tour.

Sorenstam is widely considered to be the greatest female golfer of all time, amassing 72 total LPGA Tour victories, 10 of which are major championships, the third most wins of any player ever on the LPGA Tour. She was named Rolex Player of the Year a record-setting eight times throughout her career and earned six Vare Trophies, the second-most of all time behind Kathy Whitworth.

The Swede topped the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings from the time they debuted in February 2006 to April 2007, holding her No. 1 position for 61 career weeks, and she still has made the most money of any player in Tour history, racking up $22,583,693 in career earnings. She is a member of both the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame and was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2021.

To watch highlights from Sorenstam's historic round, please click here.

On This Date: Annika Sorenstam Shoots 59 at 2001 Standard Register PING

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