Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Annika To Call It Day

Annika Sorenstam has announced that she’s going to knock her illustrious playing career on the head at the end of the season.

Carefully avoiding the word "retire", she called it "the r-word," Sorenstam said the time was right, even though she has three victories in eight tournaments this season and has shown signs that she could make another run at the top spot in the world rankings.

Her swansong will be the Dubai Ladies Masters in December, leaving her enough time to add the finishing touches to her wedding in January 2009 wedding.

"The reason for this decision is that I have other priorities in my life," Annika said. "This is obviously a very difficult decision for me to make, because I love this game very much. But I know it's the right one. I'm leaving the game on my own terms."

She's also leaving while still within striking distance of several records, making the timing of her announcement surprising. Her 72 victories are third to Kathy Whitworth's 88 and Mickey Wright's 82, and her 10 major championships are fourth all time, five shy of Patty Berg's record 15.


Annika Sorenstam looks at alternative careers.

She shot the only 59 in LPGA Tour history early in 2001 and followed that by overcoming a 10-stroke, final-round deficit to win the Office Depot Championship at Wilshire Country Club to tie the record for largest final-round comeback.

Yet for all of her LPGA accolades, she might be best remembered for her appearance at the Bank of America Colonial in 2003, when she became the first woman since 1945 to play in a PGA Tour event.

She missed the cut by four shots, but gained legions of fans and elevated the levels of admiration and awareness of the women's game by shooting respectable rounds of 71-74.
"It would be very difficult to find another golfer who has done as much for the LPGA Tour than Annika," LPGA Tour Commissioner Carolyn Bivens said. "History is still being written, but it's not going to be easy to erase Annika's name from the record books."

Her dominance helped forge a friendship with the dominant male golfer of this generation, and said it was "sad to see the greatest female golfer of all time step away."
"But it's nice to see Annika did it on her terms," Woodsy added.
Due to the announcement it’s natural to write the super Swede’s golfing obituary but there’s still plenty to play for.

Catching world number one Lorena Ochoa looks unlikely but after her sensational start to the season it's possible. And if anyone can do it…




5/14/2008 10:39:59 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 


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