LPGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame member Annika Sorenstam announced on May 14 her plans to step away from competitive golf, effective at the end of the 2008 LPGA season. Since turning professional in 1994, Sorenstam has been a loyal member of the Callaway Golf Professional Tour Staff, playing Callaway Golf equipment for her entire career. She has used the Company’s clubs and golf balls to amass perhaps the most impressive career totals in the history of women’s golf, and hopes to add to those numbers as she plays out the 2008 LPGA Tour schedule.
Two days before her announcement, the 37-year-old Sorenstam showed no signs of slowing down, winning the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill by seven shots. That victory in Virginia was the 72nd of her LPGA career. The win made her the first player in LPGA history to pass $22 million in earnings.
Currently, Sorenstam uses the FT-5 Driver, a Tour 15˚ X Fairway Wood, an X 5-wood, X-Prototype Irons, the Tour ix Golf Ball, an Odyssey White Hot XG Putter and Tour Authentic Footwear from Callaway Golf.
“I’m very proud of women’s golf and the state it is in today. I think in the last 15 years I’ve seen a tremendous change and it’s really grown and it’s in an amazing place," Sorenstam said at the press conference announcing her retirement. "I’m very happy to have been a part of it; to have had a chance to follow my dreams. And I believe that this decision comes at the right time. The LPGA is in very good hands with some great talent and a commissioner that really cares.”
In 2007, she battled a neck injury that limited her to just 14 starts on the LPGA Tour. This season, she has returned with a vengeance to win three times in eight starts, including the season-opening SBS Open in Hawaii. Sorenstam also has seven top-10 finishes in those eight starts, and is tied for first place in rounds under par, having ended 26 of her 30 rounds with a red number beside her name. Of her 72 career wins, 10 have been major championships—most recently the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open in an 18-hole playoff.
“Typically, endorsement contracts in sports come and go, but Annika has been with Callaway Golf since day one,” said Nick Raffaele, Vice President of Sports Marketing for Callaway Golf. “All of her many accomplishments in golf have come because of her rare talent and hard work, and with Callaway Golf equipment in her hands. We appreciate all Annika has done for Callaway Golf thus far in her career and look forward to the next stage of our relationship with her.”
Eight times in her illustrious career, Sorenstam has won the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year award, the most all-time. She has also won six ESPY Awards for most outstanding golfer of the year and two for best female athlete. She was named the Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year in 1995, 1997 and from 2000 through 2005. In 2003 she was the recipient of the Patty Berg Award for her contributions to women's golf. At the 2001 Standard Register Ping, she became the only woman to shoot 59 in competitive play.
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Sorenstam began playing golf at the age of 12. She joined the Swedish National Team in 1987 and played in the World Amateur Golf Team Championships in 1990 and in 1992, when she won the Championship. In 1990, she enrolled at the University of Arizona, where she went on to win seven titles during her collegiate career, and become the first foreign and first freshman player to win the individual NCAA Championship. She joined the LPGA Tour in 1994.
In April of 2007, Sorenstam unveiled her new golf academy, Annika’s Academy of Golf Fitness at the Reunion Resort & Club near Orlando, which today takes up much of her free time. Her success on the course has helped lead to huge growth in women’s golf overall, changing both how the game is covered by the media and how it is played by a new generation of women on the LPGA Tour.
“Women’s golf is a lot more global than it ever was, but I’m only one international face of the LPGA," Sorenstam said. "I come from a country where we have several international stars that helped pave the way for me. I’m just happy to be a part of it and hopefully I’ve helped a little bit, but it’s totally a team effort from everybody. The LPGA is as good as it’s ever been and I’m just happy that I’ve had a chance to be part of such a wonderful time.”
Annika Sorenstam's Career Victories