The Swedish Sensation - Annika Sorenstam

Annika Sorenstam is the Swedish sensation, exploding on to the golf scene with her energetic and expressive approach to the game and sparking the awareness of adolescent girls the world over. With making a name for herself, she has resolutely planted golf in the realm of sports for women and created a standard for women in golf for years to come.

Many people are surprised to learn that Annika Sorenstam did not grow up playing golf. She did not discover the sport until she turned twelve. As a youngster, Annika Sorenstam wanted to be a professional tennis player, and avidly pursued both tennis and badminton. At the age of sixteen, Annika Sorenstam realized that she would never become a pro tennis player, and traded in her tennis racket for her golf clubs. She had begun taking lessons at fourteen, and decided to pursue golf as her pro sport. She became so obsessed with golf that she would even play in the snow using a bright orange ball! Her goal was to one day win the prestigious U.S. Open.

Annika Sorenstam arrived in the US on a golfing scholarship at the University of Arizona at the age of nineteen. During her first two years of college she won seven collegiate titles. The summer after her sophomore year, Annika Sorenstam was invited to the US Open. While she did not play well, the invitation gave her the realization that she was ready to go pro.

Annika Sorenstam started her pro career in Europe in 1993. She did quite well in this less competitive market, and was named Rookie of the Year her first year as a pro golfer. During this year she also did several tournaments with the Ladies Professional Golf Association in the US. While she did not win any of these, she did play extremely well, and started to get noticed. She gradually began inching closer and closer to the top. At the age of 24, Annika realized her girlhood dream and won the US Open at the Broadmoor Golf Club near Pikes Peak in Colorado.

Annika Sorenstam, on a high from her Rookie of the Year nod, became an on the spot superstar and started getting offers from around the world for her likeness and for her style. She became an icon and took some time off of golf to take a break. After this, she re-entered the European tour and continued playing her game. The US was her area of supremacy, though, and she continued her extraordinary roll on American soil in every successive US tour she would enter.

After her early success, Annika Sorenstam began to struggle when playing in the majors, both in Europe and in the US. In 2000, Annika Sorenstam began a strict training and exercise regimen, and by the end of 2001 was back at winning tournaments again. She again made headlines in 2003 when she announced her intention to accept an invitation to play in the Professional Golf Association Colonial golf tournament, a traditionally all-male field. There was much controversy surrounding her entrance into the tournament, causing Annika's name to reach headlines around the world. She did not qualify for the cut, yet still made a name for herself by playing against some of the world's top male golfers.

Annika Sorenstam is the first international women's golfer ever entered into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Entered to the Hall in 2003, Annika brought her magic to the game of golf and continues to spread her influence throughout its hallowed history. Continuing to stir the world, Annika Sorenstam will host a variety of Ladies Professional Golf Association events around the world and will even redesign a course in Mt. Pleasant. All of this adds up to making Annika Sorenstam a person to watch in the game of golf and an enigmatic person in all walks of life. She is certainly an icon in women's sport and, of course, in sports in general.