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Annika
Sorenstam
Golf
With
her performance in 2002, Annika Sorenstam staked her claim to being the
finest female golfer in history. That's saying a lot, and takes in quite
a bit of history, but the numbers she has posted, while dominating her
sport over the past two years, have been staggering.
In
2001, the 32-year old Sorenstam won eight times on the LPGA Tour, but that
effort, in effect, only served as a warmup for what was to come.
In
2002, she won 11 times on the LPGA Tour, including the Nabisco Championship,
her fourth major title. Throw in two international wins and Sorenstam went
to the winner's circle 13 times. She was the leading money winner on tour
for the fifth time, with $2,863,904.
The
most impressive number of all though, was Sorenstam's scoring average.
Over the course of the LPGA season she averaged 68.70 shots per round,
the lowest total in LPGA history and the first time anyone had averaged
less than 69 shots per round over a full year.
A
native of Stockholm, Sweden, Sorenstam started playing golf at the age
of 12. A product of the Swedish junior program, she represented her homeland
for six years in international play. She also made her mark at the collegiate
level, winning seven tournaments while attending the University of Arizona.
In
1992, Sorenstam capped off her amateur career by winning the World Amateur
championship, and finishing as the runner-up at the U.S. Women's Amateur.
The following year she was Rookie of the Year on what is now the Ladies
EuropeanTour. She duplicated that feat the next year on the LPGA Tour and
throughout her career, has continued to play on both continents.
In
1995, Sorenstam made the golf world stand up and take notice by winning
the U.S. Women's Open along with Player of the Year honors and the Vare
Trophy for lowest stroke average. She has been one of her sport's leading
practitioners since then. Her accomplishments include the following:
•
First on the LPGA's career money list with $11,170,368
•
51 lifetime professional wins (42 on the LPGA Tour, nine elsewhere)
•
Five LPGA Player of the Year Awards
•
Five Vare Trophies for lowest stroke average on the LPGA Tour
o
Won 13 times worldwide in 2002, tying a mark established by Mickey Wright,
who won 13 LPGA events in 1963. Eleven of Sorenstam's victories came on
the LPGA Tour, which ties Wright for second place on the single-season
victory list. Wright won 11 times in 1964.
Despite
her on-course success, Sorenstam has not always been a beloved figure.
In contrast to a player like Nancy Lopez, who captivated the public with
her outgoing personality as much as with her considerable skills, Sorenstam
has a somewhat detached on-course persona, one more akin to a Ben Hogan,
or even a Tiger Woods than a Lopez.
But
over the last two years, more and more golf enthusiasts seem to be warming
to her. When Sorenstam came from behind to win the Shop Rite LPGA Classic
in Absecon, N.J. in June, the gallery was clearly in her corner.
Golf
fans have come to realize that they are watching one of the greatest athletes,
male or female, ever to pick up a golf club. And perhaps they are wondering
just how much longer they will have the chance to watch her in competition.
At
32, Sorenstam will be starting her 10th full season on the LPGA Tour in
2003. Once she completes that season, she will have met all the requirements
for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. Wright, the player to whom Sorenstam
is now being compared, stopped playing competitive golf on a full-time
basis at 34, although she played sporadically for another decade. She won
for the last time in 1973, at age 38 and lost a playoff in 1979 at age
44.
However
long Sorenstam chooses to compete, it is likely she is closer to the end
of her career than she is to the beginning, all the more reason for sports
fans in general and golf fans in particular to savor her accomplishments.
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