Annika Sörenstam
Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (pronounced [ˈǎnːɪka ˈsœ̂ːrɛnˌstam] ⓘ; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is 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 90 international tournaments as a professional, 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. After turning 50, she came back from her retirement and added a win in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women's Open.
| Annika Sörenstam | |||||||||||||||||
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Sörenstam at the 2008 LPGA Championship | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Annika Charlotta Sörenstam | ||||||||||||||||
| Born | 9 October 1970 Bro, Stockholm County, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||||||||||||||||
| Sporting nationality | Sweden | ||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Orlando, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | David Esch (1997–2005) Mike McGee (m. 2009) | ||||||||||||||||
| Children | 1 daughter, 1 son | ||||||||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||||||||
| College | University of Arizona (two years) | ||||||||||||||||
| Turned professional | 1992 | ||||||||||||||||
| Current tour(s) | LPGA Tour (joined 1994) Ladies European Tour | ||||||||||||||||
| Professional wins | 97 | ||||||||||||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||||||||||||
| LPGA Tour | 72 (3rd all time) | ||||||||||||||||
| Ladies European Tour | 17 (5th all-time) | ||||||||||||||||
| LPGA of Japan Tour | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| ALPG Tour | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Other | 6 (regular) 1 (senior) | ||||||||||||||||
| Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 10) | |||||||||||||||||
| Chevron Championship | Won: 2001, 2002, 2005 | ||||||||||||||||
| Women's PGA C'ship | Won: 2003, 2004, 2005 | ||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Women's Open | Won: 1995, 1996, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||
| du Maurier Classic | 2nd: 1998 | ||||||||||||||||
| Women's British Open | Won: 2003 | ||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||||||||||||
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| (For a full list of awards, see here) | |||||||||||||||||
In 2003, she achieved a career grand slam, winning, at least once in her career, each of the four tournaments recognized as major championships during the main part of her career.
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.
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 is the only female golfer to shoot a 59 in competition. She holds various all-time scoring records including the lowest season scoring average: 68.6969 in 2004.
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.
In 2003, Sörenstam played in the Bank of America Colonial tournament to become the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945.
On 7 January 2021, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump.