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Annika Sörenstam (help·info) (born October 9, 1970) is a Swedish
professional golfer.
Born in Bro,Sweden in the Upplands-Bro Municipality outside Stockholm,
Annika Sörenstam as a kid was an extremely good tennis player and downhill
skier. At the age of 12 she switched to playing golf and enjoyed a very
successful amateur career. She was a member of the Swedish National Team
from 1987 - 1992 during which time she played at the 1990 and 1992 World
Amateur Golf Team Championships, becoming World Amateur champion in 1992.
Studying in the United States, she played on the University of Arizona
women's golf team where she won seven collegiate titles including the 1991
individual [[NCAA[[ National Championship.
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She was 1991 NCAA Co-Player of the Year (with Kelly Robbins), and runner-up
the following year, 1992 Pac-10 champion and a 1991-92 NCAA All-American. In
1992 she was the runner-up to Vicki Goetze at the United States Women's
Amateur Golf Championship. She became a professional golfer in 1993, playing
on the WPGET (now Ladies European Tour) tour.
Annika was invited to play 3 LPGA tournaments early in 1993, finishing
T38th, 4th, and T9th earning more than $47,000. She finished 2nd four times
on the WPGET tour and was named 1993 WPGET Rookie of the Year. She qualified
for the LPGA Tour by tying for 28th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament
to earn non-exempt status for the 1994 season.
In 1994, Annika was the Rolex Rookie of the Year on the strength of three
top-10 finishes, including a season-best tie for second at the Weetabix
Women’s British Open. In 1995, Annika became a Rolex First-Time Winner at
the U.S. Women’s Open, making her one of 14 LPGA players to have the Open as
her first LPGA career victory. She became the second international player to
win Rolex Player of the Year. She is the only player besides Nancy Lopez to
have won Rolex Rookie of the Year and then the Rolex Player of the Year and
Vare Trophy the following year.She also led the 1995 WPGET Order of Merit.
Annika Sörenstam is one of the most successful female golfers ever. To date,
she has won 67 official LPGA tournaments (see list below), including nine
majors. Every year from 2000 to 2005 she won at least five tournaments and
she tops the LPGA's career money list by several million dollars, with
earnings of over 18 million dollars.
She has won eight Rolex Player of the Year awards, and is the holder of
various all-time scoring records, including the lowest score in a single
round (59 in the second round of the 2001 Standard Register PING tournament)
and the lowest scoring average for one season (68.70 in 2002). Sorenstam has
also won the Vare Trophy, given to the LPGA player with the lowest scoring
average for the year, six times.
Amid notable controversy, Sörenstam was invited to play in The Colonial golf
tournament in Fort Worth, Texas in May of 2003, making her the first woman
to play in a PGA event since Babe Zaharias, who qualified for the 1945 Los
Angeles concat(golf)|Los Angeles Open. Cheered through each hole, she shot a
+5, tying for 96th out of the 111 who finished the first two rounds, not
enough to make the cut.
She qualified for the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000, but was not eligible
for induction until finishing her tenth year on the LPGA tour, which she did
in October 2003. She won the "World Sportswoman of the Year" award at the
Laureus World Sports Awards in 2004. She won her last two LPGA events of
that season and her first three of 2005 to equal Nancy Lopez's LPGA Tour
record of five consecutive victories. Sörenstam received the 2005 ESPY Award
as Best Female Athlete. In 2006 she topped the first list of Women's World
Golf Rankings.
She has been a member of seven European Solheim Cup teams: 1994, 1996, 1998,
2000, 2002, 2003 and 2005. In 2006 she won the Women's World Cup of Golf for
Sweden in partnership with Liselotte Neumann.
In 2004, she released a combination autobiography and golf instructional
book called Golf Annika's Way. |
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ANNIKA SORENSTAM PICTURES |
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