Sorenstam sheds tear on farewell

By Mark Lamport-Stokes in Dubai
Monday, 15 December 2008

REUTERS

Annika Sorenstam on the 16th hole in the Dubai Ladies Masters yesterday, the final round of her competitive career

Annika Sorenstam, who is widely regarded as the best female player of all time, has fresh challenges in mind after ending her competitive career at the Dubai Ladies Masters here yesterday. The 38-year-old Swede announced in May she would be quitting the game at the end of this season and has effectively been on a farewell global tour for the past seven months.

A 10-times major champion who has won 90 titles worldwide, Sorenstam will be sorely missed on the circuit as a steely competitor and as a role model for youngsters. However, she will not be entirely lost to the game as she plans to pursue business interests, including her golf academy in Florida, charitable foundation and course design projects.

The former world No 1 also wants to start a family with her fiancé, Mike McGee, who is the son of the former PGA Tour player Jerry McGee.

"I've achieved so much more than I thought I could and I'm ready to move on," Sorenstam said before competing in her last three events. "I didn't know how long I was going to play. I was so motivated with short-term goals and long-term goals and winning majors. That was driving me.

"Then all of a sudden I felt like I achieved what I wanted to. The motivation was not there any more. I'm still playing good golf but I have achieved everything. I just felt the time was right."

A winner of 72 LPGA Tour titles, including three this year, Sorenstam has been the dominant figure in women's golf for the past decade. She earned a record eight Player of the Year awards on the LPGA Tour after making her debut in 1994, won six Vare trophies for the lowest scoring average and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.

Sorenstam is the only female player to have shot a 59 in competition – at the 2001 Standard Register PING tournament – and competed with the men at the PGA Tour's 2003 Colonial event where she missed the cut.

Later that year she edged out South Korea's Pak Se-ri by a shot at Royal Lytham & St Annes to win her first women's British Open, completing a career grand slam with her sixth major title. Sorenstam won her 10th major at the 2006 US Open after an 18-hole playoff with the American Pat Hurst in Newport, Rhode Island.

"I'm going to miss a lot of these things but the good thing is I have a lot of fun things ahead of me," she said. "My connections to golf are not going away by any means. I'm staying very involved with different things with the LPGA and the USGA, and my sponsors are staying with me.

"Through my foundation and building golf courses and the Annika Academy, I'm involved in golf. I'm lucky to have that and I'm excited to be able to grow the game and not always be inside the ropes, feeling like I have to perform every week.

"I felt at peace walking up the 18th hole. I really felt very content," Sorenstam said. "I saw some players standing behind the 18th green; that gave me a tear. I saw my parents and my family and that gave me a tear.

"Life goes on. I am very happy about my decision to move on. I feel very happy [with my achievements] and at the same time if you think about 15 years and all of the things that I have achieved, it's sad. But you close the door and you open another one. I am glad that I have a chance to do that," said Sorenstam, who has, however, left the door slightly ajar should she wish to return.

"Well, that's the beauty. I have the option to do that. Never say never. But, on the other hand, I feel great right now. This is what I have been waiting for," said Sorenstam, who finished in seventh place after her last competitive round which contained three bogeys and four birdies. "There is a lot of talent out there. I feel very good about women's golf, in general. It's on the rise and it will continue to grow. I think stepping away at this time is very appropriate."

The commissioner of the LPGA, Carolyn Bivens, paid tribute to Sorenstam at last month's ADT Championship in West Palm Beach, Florida where the Swede missed the cut. "She's one of the greatest athletes in history and one of the greatest role models in our sport," Bivens said. "She continues to set the global bar for excellence in all statistical categories and yet to judge Annika only by her on-course performance is to miss the essence of a woman who is the ultimate role model.

"She's set an incredible standard for the talented young contingent of players who are following in her footsteps on and off the course. While we'll miss her in our tournaments and on our leaderboards, we will look forward to her continued contributions to the game," Bivens added.